Future Complications
by Country fan 7
Summary: Sequel to "The Future has come to Past' - After spending four months in the ground, Liam returns a changed man. He now fights Wolfram and Hart with his parents, Buffy and Angel, and a friend from his past, to stop the evil law firm before they send his future to hell. As he deals with this, he must also deal with an enemy from his father's past that ruined his brother's life.
1. Bargaining part 1

Chapter 1: Bargaining Part 1

**Ok. I know that I said that I would right my own story, but I also said that I would keep to a little canon. This is one of them. It's a really good episode that brought back Buffy and I can use it for Liam. Most of it is canon, some is my own writing. There is no actual Liam appearance until the very end. Just like with Buffy in the episode. Wanna know what happens? Read. Enjoy.**

_Buffy was walking through the cemetery at night. It was her nightly patrol as usual. She saw some action this summer. Every night she had faced at least three vamps or a big nasty demon. Tonight seemed to be slow for once. She was actually kinda glad. _

"_Finally, a nice quite night." She said to herself._

"_And that's unusual." She heard a voice from behind her. She turned around and from around the tree came Liam, her son from the future. _

"_Liam." She greeted her son with a kiss on the cheek and a hug. "I didn't know you would be here."_

"_Well I wanted to see my mother." He said with shrug. _

"_Awww. How sweet?" she said smiling. Then a thought occurred to her. Liam was here yes, but she remembered him jumping into a portal and dying. What was he doing here? "Wait." She took a step back. "I saw you die. I was at your funeral. I planned it. How are you here?"_

"_Well," he started to circle her. "That's actually a pretty funny story." He chuckled. "You see, one minute I was sacrificing myself for the world and for my brother." Buffy remembered him saying that she was pregnant before he jumped. She glanced down, expecting to see a swollen stomach, but she was flat. He came to her front with his back to her. "The next minute, I'm waking up and finding myself refreshed."_

"_What do you mean?" Buffy asked feeling a little scared._

"_Are you proud of me, mom?"_

"_What? Of course I am. You tried to save the future. You saved the world. How could I not be proud of you?"_

"_So, you'll feel proud of me no matter what I do? No matter what I become?"_

"_Of course. You're my son. I will always love you."_

"_That's great, because…." He whipped around with a growl and a roar and grabbed Buffy by the neck and lifter her up. She saw his face. It was bumpy and he had yellow eyes and fangs. "I have a new plan for the future." He threw her and she hit a nearby tree and slid down. "I'm done with the whole leading people to do what I want them to do." Buffy got up and faced the thing that used to be her son. "I'm done with sitting on the side lines." Buffy went to punching him but he grabbed her fist and flung her into a wall of a mausoleum. "I was always the get down and dirty kinda guy." She got up and Liam came at her. She tried to kick him but she seemed slower than she usually was. She kicked Liam in the stomach, aiming for his head. "That wasn't nice."_

"_That wasn't supposed to happen." Buffy said. Liam grabbed her and threw her to the ground. He kneeled over her. She heard the sound of a motorcycle coming her way but she didn't see any coming._

"_You know, they say that family blood is always the sweetest." Buffy looked scared, staring at the face of her former son. "Guess we'll find out." Buffy screamed._

…

Buffy woke up screaming. She immediate felt two arms wrap around her protectively. She withered and then settled into the arms.

"Buffy, it's ok." She heard her husband say. She looked at Angel, the love of her, look back at her caringly. "Is everything alright?" Buffy looked down at her swollen stomach. She was five months pregnant and about to go on six. After Liam had told her she was pregnant, she went to the doctors and they confirmed her suspicions that the baby was conceived at the time Angel went back to LA after they got back together.

"Bad dream." Buffy said. She occasionally had dreams about Liam where she would wake up crying. Most of them were about him jumping into the portal. But this one was different.

"Liam?" Angel asked.

"Yeah."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No." Buffy said after a beat. "Maybe in the morning."

"Ok." Angel said kissing her temple. "Go back to sleep. You and the baby need it." Angel leaned back onto the bed and turned to go back to sleep. Buffy did the same. This dream she had. It felt different. But it also felt familiar. She didn't know what it was about. Maybe she'll figure it out tomorrow after some rest.

…

Buffy wasn't the only one who was up that night. The rest of the gang had picked up the slaying slack since Buffy had to go on 'Maternity Leave'. However, they weren't without some slaying help. Faith had gotten out of prison, thanks to Liam, and went into slayer mode. She kept her badass girl charm when it came to slaying, but she was a totally different person. Everyone saw it. She would actually listen to the gang now. She tried to compliment when a compliment was allowed. She would take orders like a soldier. Of course once Xander started to treat her like a servant, she made it clear that she was a like a gun. They aimed her at a target and they fired her. She wasn't a butler. After that, it was pretty much that. Demon comes along, she killed it, end of story.

Tonight was no different. The gang wanted to help out in the patrolling and would come along with Faith for support. A very large, both tall and chubby, vampire was running steadily between the headstones in a graveyard. Spike was running after him. Tara was running after them with Giles behind her, carrying an axe. They came up to a fence and the vampire was gone. Spike yelled in frustration.

"I'm never gonna get anything killed with you lot holding me back." He said.

"I thought the big ones were supposed to tire more easily." Tara said panting.

"No, that's over-the-hill shopkeepers."

"I'm fine." Giles said leaning on a headstone panting. "I just need to ... to die for a minute."

"It was that powder you blew at him made him rabbit off." Spike said to Tara

"It's sorbis root, it was supposed to confuse him, but ... it just kinda made him peppy." Tara explained. Spike rolled his eyes. "It's not supposed to mix with anything, you think he might be taking prescription medication?"

"Yeah, that must be it." Spike said sarcastically

"Good god, I hope he doesn't try to operate heavy machinery." Giles said. Giles and Spike laughed.

"Yeah, we could all be in real…" Spike didn't finish as Willow's voice popped into his head.

"Guys, heads up." She said telepathically. They all looked up. Willow was standing on top of a large crypt, telepathically communication with the gang. "The vampire's circling back towards you, six o'clock." The other three looked around for the vamp. "Try to drive him back towards the Van Elton crypt."

"Van Elton." Spike said telepathically.

"Is that the one with the cute little gargoyles?" Tara said aloud. The vampire they were chasing ran back across their field of vision, seeing them, turned and started back the way he came.

"Left, make him go left!" Willow said telepathically. Giles threw his axe. It thudded into a tree right by the vampire's face. The vamp turned and headed left. Tara and Spike looked at Giles, then they all ran after the vampire. The vampire winded up at a dead-end, and turned to go back. Suddenly a fist came out and punched him in the face. He fell down. A pair of feet walked over and stood by the prone vampire's feet. He stared up at the person. It was Faith.

"Big, fast, and dumb." Faith said. "Just the way I like 'em." The vampire sat up and she kicked him in the face, thrusted out with her stake, but he grabbed her arm, hitting her with his other arm, and got up. Tara and Giles appeared, grabbing the vamp's arms and held him while Spike punched him in the face twice. Then Spike moved for another punch but the vampire head-butted Spike and he staggered back.

Xander and Anya were running through another part of the graveyard.

"Sounds like the other units are engaged." Xander said.

"Xander, Anya, stop! "Willow said telepathically. Xander and Anya stopped running, and looked startled.

"Great googly-moogly, Willow, would you quit doing that?"

"I told you I was going to get the lay of the land."

"But not the lay of my brain."

"It's kind of intrusive." Anya said. "You could knock first or something."

"Xander" Willow said telepathically.

"I know, I know, I don't have to talk when I answer you." Xander said. "But I saw 'The Fury,' and that way lies spooky carnival death." A vampire was hiding behind a tombstone a few feet away from Xander and Anya.

"Xander! Vampire! Other side of that tomb. You can get the jump on him if you go the other way."

"Why didn't you just say so?" Xander and Anya head around the side of the tomb.

Back to the other battle, the big vampire threw both Tara and Giles off him. Faith ran at him, tried to punch but he blocked, picking her up over his shoulders, swinging her around so that her feet kicked Spike in the face. Then he threw her toward Tara.

"Tara, down!" Willow said. Tara ducked and Faith went flying over her, landing against a wall. Giles grabbed the axe, got up and swung at the vampire, who grabbed it and spun Giles around, pinning him against the iron fence with the axe handle on his throat.

"Spike!" Giles choked. Spike jumped on the vamp's back but he was so big he barely noticed. He shrugged Spike off a couple of times. Spike stepped back and sighed. "Spike!"

"What are you doing?" Willow asked. "Help him!"

"I did." Spike said lighting a cigarette. The back of the vampire's shirt was on fire. The fire spread up to the rest of his shirt. He let go of Giles and staggered back, bursting completely into flame and dust. Giles put his arm over his face as the dust showered over him. Spike took a drag on his cigarette, sauntered over to Giles and held out his hand. Giles took it and Spike helped him up.

"You might have let me in on your plan while he throttled me." Giles said.

"Oh, poor Watcher. Did your life pass before your eyes? Cuppa tea, cuppa tea, almost got shagged, cuppa tea?"

"Guys, help Xander and Anya over by the Anderson tomb." Willow told them. They head off. Xander was being held in a headlock by the other vampire.

"Xander!" Anya said as she lunged with a stake but the vamp merely stepped aside. She swung again and missed. The vamp hit her and she fell down. The vampire continued growling and struggling with Xander.

"I got it!" Faith said coming over and kicked the vampire, and he went down, letting go of Xander who landed on the grass beside Anya. The vamp got up, blocking a kick, and punched Faith. They exchanged a few more punches and kicks. He got her on the ground, picked her up over his head, and Spike came in and punched him in the stomach. The vampire dropped Faith, and Spike kicked him. He shoved Spike away, and Spike landed beside Xander and Anya. Faith kicked the vamp onto the ground, then staked him as he started to sit up. "Another one bites the dust." She turned to the rest of the gang that was getting up and walked over to them. "You guys ok?"

"Yeah." Spike said. "We're good. Hey, nice job on getting that vamp." He said with a smile.

"Thanks." She replied with a smile. They looked at each other smiling for a minute before turning to the rest of the gang. "So what now? One more sweep?"

"No. I think that will suffice for tonight." Giles said. They all started walking. "However, Spike is right. You did well tonight Faith."

"Hey, being in prison for a year may have slowed me down for the first month, but I'm back and better than ever." Faith replied.

"And that's good. Especially with Buffy being on 'Maternity Leave'. We still need a slayer active on the hellmouth, otherwise demons would run ramped."

"And we don't want that." Xander said.

"I think it's rather nice that Buffy gets a break for once." Willow said. "It's exactly what she needed after…." She trailed off not wanting to talk about Liam.

"The thing with Glory and the portal." Tara finished for her.

"And Liam dying." Anya blurted out.

"Thanks Ahn." Xander said. "This conversation needed that."

"But Buffy did go through a traumatic year." Giles said. "With Liam coming, her and Angel getting together, dealing with Glory, protecting Dawn, and Liam's passing, she deserves to have some time to herself."

"And she did." Xander said. "What with getting married, going off to Ireland, dealing with morning sickness. Never wanting that to happen again."

"But you will if you want to have my babies." Anya said.

"Anya, not now." They walked more without talking to each other.

"I miss him." Anya said. "I didn't really know him all that well, but I do miss him."

"We all do Anya."

"Some more than others." Faith said under breath sadly. Spike heard her and walked a little closer to her.

"Don't worry." Spike said. "Buffy and Peaches will shag it up after this kid just so that they can have Liam. Then we'll have him back. But in a small puking, crying, diaper wearin' form."

"That's something right?" Anya asked.

…

Buffy was in the kitchen of the mansion eating a big plate of a traditional Irish breakfast. Faith came into kitchen behind her. Since she got back to Sunnydale, Buffy and Angel offered her to stay at the mansion with Spike and themselves. Faith didn't really want to intrude but they had insisted.

"Morning." Faith said.

"Morning!" Buffy said cheerfully. "How was slaying last night?"

"Good. Spike burned a vamp with his lighter and I staked another one."

"You guys are becoming quite the pair."

"Well it seems that a reoccurring theme in Sunnydale is that the slayer works with a vampire."

"Not all the time. I went over a year without Angel. It went pretty well."

"Yeah. And you did it with some soldier boy. By the way, he was pretty good."

"Faith!"

"What? You're not with him anymore. And he's off in some jungle in South America."

"And I'm glad." Angel said coming in a grabbing a bag of blood from the refrigerator. "Buffy is mine and mine alone." He put the blood in a cup and put it in the microwave. "No one is allowed to touch her but me."

"Oh really?" Faith said with a raised eyebrow. She went up to Buffy and started poking her in the shoulder, making Buffy giggle. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm thinking about letting you girls take your shirts off and see where it goes." Spike said as he came in with a smirk. The microwave dinged and Spike grabbed the cup of blood.

"Hey, that's mine." Angel said. Spike shrugged and drank the cup. Angel sighed and grabbed another bag of blood.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Faith asked.

"Well, I have to go to Dawn's school for some teacher-parent-guardian day thing." Buffy said.

"Is Angel-face going to be in attendance?"

"No." Angel answered as he got his cup of blood. "It's sunny out and I think teachers and parents would find it weird that a guardian of a student comes in and out of the basement. Not to mention him avoiding sunlight wherever he goes so…..no."

"Yeah. And they'd freak if they saw you go up in flames." Spike added.

"Exactly."

"So what are you going to do today Angel?" Faith asked.

"I don't know. Maybe read, sketch, train."

"Basically what you do every bleedin' day." Spike said.

"At least I don't sit around all day watching _Passions_."

"I like _Passions_." Buffy said. "It keeps me occupied since I can't go out slaying." Angel smiled at her. Buffy glanced at her watch. "Oh, I gotta go and meet up with Dawn and then go to her school and sit through boring lectures about teachers saying their doing the right thing."

"OK. Love you." Angel kissed Buffy.

"Love you." Buffy said and left. Angel sat in a chair and drank his blood. Faith started making herself some breakfast.

"So Angel," Faith said. "How's the baby coming along?"

"Great." Angel said proudly. "Buffy and I have gone to the doctors every time we had an appointment and he said that the baby is in good health and is right on schedule."

"That's good." Spike said sitting next to Angel. "So you and Buffy are really happy about this kid."

"Yeah. Why wouldn't we be?"

"I'm not saying you wouldn't. I'm just saying that with everything that had happened, will you love this baby more than Liam?"

"Hey! Buffy and I will love our children, no matter what order they come in. And we will love them all equally." Angel slumped in his chair and drank his cup of blood and started to brood.

"Sorry. It's just that, I don't know how you and Buffy did it." Faith came over with her breakfast and sat down. "I mean the rest of the gang is still mourning over him. Faith and me included. I'm just wonderin' how you and Buffy did it."

"We didn't. We're still…" he sighed. "We're still mourning. Some nights, Buffy wakes up in a panic because she sees his face as he sacrificed himself. Last night, she awoke up screaming after a nightmare. She didn't want to talk about it." They all bowed their heads in sadness.

"I know it's only been four months," Faith began. "I only met him once and he did so much for me. It's still kinda hard."

"It's hard on all of us." Spike said. "He did a lot for us all."

"Yes he did." Angel said. "Sometimes I felt like I shouldn't fight for the helpless because I got distracted and my son died. I didn't want that to happen to Buffy and our future children. But Buffy told me that I should honor his memory and do what he wanted us to do. He wanted us to help save the future."

"Exactly how?" Faith asked. Angel and Spike looked at her. "I mean, he didn't leave any note did he? Explaining what to do."

"No." Angel got up. "But he did say that Wolfram and Hart is behind it. So long as my team and I fight them and Buffy and the gang help out, we should be ready for whatever they throw at us." Angel put his cup away and walked out of the kitchen.

"But will it be enough?" Faith sighed

"Hey." Spike said with a raised eyebrow. "You wanna fool around?"

"Spike." Faith said. Faith and Spike had gotten together shortly after she came to Sunnydale. They had felt a little guilty at first, especially since it was after Liam's death. But they both told each other about theirs and Liam's trips to limbo and the memories they saw. After that, they just got together and sparks flew. They didn't, however, tell the rest of the gang. They were keeping their relationship a secret. They might receive some hostility due to Spike's lack of a soul and Faith's history. Not to mention, everyone was all about Buffy and Angel's baby on the way.

…

Faith walked into the magic shop later that day because she wanted to get out and do something other than train and stay cooped up in a mansion until the sun went down. Giles was at the counter going over files.

"Hey G-man." Faith said coming over. Giles looked up.

"Oh. Hello Faith." Giles greeted her. "How are you?"

"I feel like if I didn't get out of the huge mansion, I would go insane." Giles looked at her horrified. "Metaphorically."

"Oh. Right, of course." Giles looked relieved.

"So how are doing today?" Faith asked trying to make conversation.

"Uh. Well. I'm running my shop. I'm helping you and Buffy fight the forces of darkness, and making a well deserve profit."

"Good." Faith looked down. Giles noticed.

"Is everything alright with you?"

"I'm just…" She looked up at him. "The fam and I had a talk this morning."

"Oh. Anything in particular you wish to share?"

"Nothing that we haven't talked about already as a gang." Giles stopped looking at his files and looked up. He knew what she was talking about. He took his glasses off and started to clean them.

"Liam." He said as he finished and put them back on.

"Yeah. It wasn't about his death. It was about his future. I mean, he didn't leave any instructions for us to like, go out and save everyone."

"Well, from what Buffy told us, he knew that she would jump and die and then come back. He didn't plan on her and Angel conceiving a child before she went off to fight Glory. He didn't want her to sacrifice herself and Connor in fear that if she came back, would he as well?"

"Which kinda brings me to my next question. If he knew Buffy would come back, did he think that maybe he would too? Will he come back from the grave?"

"I'm not sure. For anyone to come back from death would require a particularly large amount a power and dark magic. We do not associate with either."

"But it was still possible."

"Indeed. Liam did not divulge any information as to how Buffy returned. It is highly unlikely that the same could be done for him."

"Wish he was here." Faith said sadly.

"We all do. We each had some sort of connection with Liam."

"Maybe everyone except the rest of the gang. From what I was told, they only knew who he was for like a week. And he didn't really do anything for them. Except I heard that he sang for Tara at her birthday party." She snickered.

"Yes well, he was actually quite good. We were all impressed with his singing ability. But aside from that one instance, you're right, they didn't have much of a connection with Liam as we did. They did feel a rather large amount of guilt after Liam's death for their hostility towards him."

"Buffy maybe hiding it, but she feels guilty too."

"Did she tell you?"

"No. Angel told me this morning that Buffy woke up last night screaming about a nightmare."

"Well it is expected of a mother who will have a child to experience nightmares of loss. It's their subconscious telling them whether they would be good parents or not. Did Angel tell you about Buffy's dream?"

"She didn't want to talk about it with him. I'm a little worried Giles."

"I am too. Buffy's faced a lot of loss in the past year. It's only recently that she has found any happiness and joy since Liam's death."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'll come over tonight and talk to Buffy. She usually tells me things that she sometimes can't tell others."

"Like her dreams?"

"Especially those. As I have told you Faith, Slayers sometimes have prophetic dreams, telling them to watch out for a certain evil or telling them about an event that would occur. Buffy has been known to have them and she usually tells me about them."

"You think she had one of those last night?"

"Wouldn't be the first time. I'll call her and make arrangements."

"I'll be there too. B and I really got along this summer." Faith smiled

"That's good. Especially since in the future, she trusted you enough to care for her children and you helped raise them to be quite remarkable individuals."

"Yeah." Faith's smile faded. "Let's just hope that it won't have to come to me caring for her kids after she and Angel die." In their Scooby meetings since Liam's death, they had talked about Liam's future and how to help carry on his work when they didn't know what to do or how to stop something they had no knowledge about. It was frustrating work. Especially since Wolfram and Hart had been silent for the entire summer. The only activity they had gotten was on the hellmouth. And it wasn't enough for anyone to call the cavalry. While it seemed to be joyful to have a steady summer, everyone was on edge because they knew what would happen in about thirty years. And they had no way of stopping it, or exactly what would happen.

…

Buffy, Angel, Faith, Spike, Dawn, And Giles were at the mansion. Faith and Spike were going to go out on patrol soon but they decided to spend sometime with the family before they went. Giles came over because of what Faith said about Buffy still having nightmares. The rest of the gang said they would stay in because of personal reasons.

"So the teacher was telling us about how they were doing all the right things in school and that we as parents have to teach them to go to school and all that stuff." Buffy was sitting on the couch with her legs up on the table, eating peanut butter and carrots, telling them about her day at Dawns school. Angel was sitting next to her, holding her.

"And we do that anyway." Angel said.

"Yeah. And the other parents started getting into a discussion about the cafeteria food being crud." Dawn added.

"I think it's an improvement." Faith said. She was sitting on another couch next to Buffy and Angel. Giles sat in an armchair he pulled up to be apart of the conversation. Dawn sat on the floor in front of the coffee table.

"Speaking of lunches, I'm feeling peckish." Spike said getting up. "Angel, you want any blood?"

"No, thanks." Angel responded. Spike had wondered off to the kitchen. Angel and Spike had really gotten along during the summer. They still bicker at times, but it was more of a brother relationship then a grandsire and a sire. They even started saying compliments to each other.

"Angel." Buffy said. "Could you get me some ice cream and a pickle?" Angel looked at her quizzically. "What? Pregnancy." Angel got up and followed Spike into the kitchen leaving the girls with Giles.

"Buffy." Giles said looking at her. "I was told about how you were experiencing nightmares still about…..Liam." Buffy looked down.

"It's not really something I like to talk about." She said solemnly.

"I understand. I just want to know if you are alright."

"I'm pregnant." She said sternly looking at him. "I'm not fine half the time."

"As we've witnessed." Dawn said.

"I was told that you had a dream last night. Do you believe that it was prophetic?"

"Your dream last night was a prophetic dream?" Angel asked coming back in with the ice cream and a jar of pickles. Spike came in after him drinking his cup of blood.

"I don't know." Buffy said.

"What happened?" Faith asked.

"I was….." Buffy didn't really like talking about Liam. But she did feel as if it could be some dream about the future. "I was walking through the cemetery on patrol. Liam came out from behind a tree and I hugged him. But I remembered that he died and I asked him about it. He started walking around me and he acted strange."

"How strange?" Angel asked.

"Like Angelus." Everyone tensed up. "He said that he was tired of letting other people do what he wanted them to do. He was going to take everything into his own hands. Then he turned around and vamped out at me. I tried to fight him but it seemed like I was slower than normal. He had me on the ground and he knelt down. He was going to bite me when I screamed and woke up." Giles took of his glasses and began to clean them. Everyone looked a little worried.

"Have you ever had this sort of dream before?" Giles asked placing his glasses back on.

"No. Every other one was Liam dying." Buffy curled up on the couch and Angel put his arms around her to comfort her. "Giles, do you think Liam might come back as a vampire?"

"I'm not sure. Things that happen in dreams are symbolical and could mean a variety of things."

"Well if he does come back as a vamp," Spike said. "Would that mean we would have to kill him or put a soul in him? 'Cause I've been with Angelus. I don't wanna know what the spawn of Angelus will be like."

"Was anything else in your dream that could have some meaning?" Giles asked Buffy. Buffy thought for a minute.

"Now that you mention it, I did hear a motorcycle." Buffy said. "But no motorcycle showed up in my dream. What's up about that?"

"That actually has more questions than the Liam vamp-thing." Faith said.

"Yeah, well. That's all I got." She went back to eating her ice cream and pickles.

…

At Xander's apartment building, the rest of the gang gathered for their own secret meeting. Willow was holding a small urn and gazing at it. Tara sat beside her.

"The urn of Osiris." Tara said.

"You really found it." Willow said looking up at Anya who sat across form her.

"Yeah. It wasn't easy." She said. "I went through every supplier the Magic Box has."

"You used a Magic Box supplier?" Willow looked alarmed. "What if Giles finds out?"

"He's too busy training Faith to pay attention to me. Besides, I ended up getting it on eBay."

"You found the last known urn of Osiris on eBay?" Tara asked.

"Yeah, from this desert gnome in Cairo. He drove a really hard bargain, but I finally got him to throw in a limited edition Backstreet Boys lunchbox for a …" Xander, who was sitting next to her, coughed. Anya paused. Xander looked nervous. "...a friend." She finished. Tara looked at Xander with a little smile.

"So you got your somber on, Will, is the urn not up to spec?" Xander asked. Willow studied the urn with a frown. She looked at Tara.

"It's the one." Willow said. "Which means it's time."

"It's time?" Xander said anxiously and sat. "Like, 'time' time? With the... timeliness?

"Are you sure?" Anya asked quietly.

"I am." Willow said.

"Mercury's in retrograde," Tara said. "and we have... Do we have everything?"

"Just about." Willow got up and went over to another table and began putting things in a bag.

"But why the sudden rushy-rush?" Xander asked.

"Liam said that some events will happen and if we don't play them out a certain way, the future is going to go to hell." Tara said.

"And the faster we get this done, the faster we can sorta stop worrying about what events to change and all that. Stop flying blind"

"Exactly." Willow said turning to them. "Tomorrow night, we'll meet back here."

"Whoa!" Xander jumped up. "Let's apply the brakes and check the rear- and side-view mirrors here." They all look at him. "This is deep stuff, Willow. We're talking about raising the dead."

"It's time we stop talking. Tomorrow night ... we're bringing Liam back. We owe it to him save the future no matter what."

"Tomorrow? I don't know." Xander seemed nervous.

"Um, Di-Discovery Channel has monkeys." Anya said. "And our tape machine's all wonky."

"Guys, I need you on board here."

"It's just ..." Xander said fidgeting a little. "It feels wrong."

"It is wrong." Tara said. Willow looked surprised. "It's against all the laws of nature, and practically impossible to do, but it's what we agreed to. If-if you guys are changing your minds…"

"Nobody's changing their minds." Willow said. "Period."

"Excuse me?" Xander asked. "Who made you the boss of the group?"

"You did." Anya said.

"After Buffy went on vacation and announced her 'Maternity Leave,' you said Willow should be boss." Tara said.

"And then you said 'let's vote,' and it was unanimous..."

"And then you made her this little plaque, that said 'Boss of Us,' you put little sparkles on it..."

"Valid points, all." Xander said. "But we ... I mean..." Xander came out from behind the coffee-table, and went over to Willow who is again at the other table putting stuff in a bag. "We were just talking then."

"Xander, I can do this, I promise." Willow said. "But not without you."

"Should we maybe tell Buffy and Angel?" Anya asked. "After all, it is their son."

"No. No one else can know. Not Buffy, not Angel, not anyone. They might not understand."

"What if something does go wrong?" Tara asked.

"I'm telling you it won't."

"Scenario - We raise Liam from the grave, he tries to eat our brains. Do we, a) congratulate ourselves on a job well done." Xander said sarcastically.

"Xander, this isn't zombies."

"Zombies don't eat brains anyway unless instructed to by their zombie masters." Anya informed them. "A lot of people get that wrong."

"This isn't like Dawn trying to bring Mrs. Summers back, or anything we've dealt with before. Liam didn't die a natural death. He was killed by mystical energy."

"Which means we do have a shot." Tara said.

"It means more than that. It means we don't know ... where he really is. And without him telling us about how Wolfram and Hart succeeded, we won't be able to stop them."

"We saw his body, Will." Xander said. "We buried it."

"His body, yeah. But his soul ... his essence ... I mean, that could be somewhere else. He could be trapped, in-in some sort of hell dimension like Angel was. Suffering eternal torment, just because he saved us, and I'm not gonna let ... I'm not gonna leave him there. We treated him badly when he came here. We never gave him the chance that he deserved. Never got to know him like Buffy, Angel, Dawn, Giles, and Spike did. Even Faith had moments with him. He never got to finish what he came here to do. We owe it to him to finish it. And that means bringing him back." Xander looked at Willow for a long moment.

"What time do we meet?"

…

The next day in the workout room, Faith was practicing with Giles while Buffy sat, plopped, on the couch watching. Giles had padded targets on both hands and Faith punched them in a rapid sequence.

"That was splendid." Giles said. Faith stopped hitting. "Now ... try it again ... only this time, remember your breathing. Think of the breath as chi. Air as a, a life source."

"Gotcha." Faith said and took a deep breathe, then resumed hitting the targets.

"Yes. Well done."

"I remember when I could do that." Buffy said. Faith looked at her.

"What? Breathing? You're going to have to do a lot of that when the kid comes out."

"I wasn't talking about breathing. I was talking about training. Spending two months away in Ireland for my honeymoon was relaxing. But now I am just plain bored at home, not being able to do anything fun."

"You said you liked watching _Passions_ with Spike."

"That's my TV time. I need physical time."

"Angel not giving you enough?" Faith laughed. Buffy blushed.

"He's giving me fine." Buffy said getting a little redder.

"Please can we not talk about that and get back to training?" Giles pleaded.

"Sorry Giles. I just want to do something other than sit around all day and moan about being tired. I'm tired of being tired."

"Well that's understandable." He looked to Faith. "Why don't we take a break for a few minutes before resuming. Faith nodded and grabbed a bottle of water. "Also you are actually a rare case. No other slayer in history as ever given birth. Not to my knowledge anyways."

"Maybe because they couldn't take the whole sitting around for about ten months while evil frollocks around. Then they went to go and take care of them and got killed."

"That's the story."

"Man. Must suck to be pregnant and also be the force of goodness." Faith said.

"That's why you're here." Buffy said. "Without a slayer, what will happen?"

"Demons will run wild and probably tear up the town." Giles said as he took off the targets and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Exactly." Buffy said.

"May not be just the hellmouth that I'm here for." Faith said looking at Giles. "I bet you're glad that I'm here so that you have a slayer to train."

"As a matter a fact." Giles said. "I am glad you're here. Buffy was progressing so much, I was beginning to wonder whether or not I should stay."

"What do you mean by that?" Buffy asked. "You were thinking of leaving me?"

"Well I was thinking that you were grabbing a hold over the world and you wouldn't need me so much. But since Faith arrived, I have changed my plans and decided to stay to train her to be at your level. Even though Faith is a well trained slayer, she still needs all the training that you received so that she can do things on her own."

"But I like having you around." Buffy began to pout. "Please don't leave me."

"I wouldn't do it if I knew that it wasn't for your benefit Buffy. But you are a growing young women who should start taking control of her life instead of relying on others to help you through the tough times. You need to start doing that." Buffy looked sad.

"Will you at least call and visit a lot?"

"Of course. I will not leave you all without any means of contacting me. And I will come and help during dire situations."

"Apocalypses pretty much." Faith said.

"Yes. And I will be here for all of the important events in your lives. But as I said, I won't be here for everything. You two are remarkable young woman and need to go out into the world as such. You need to find out who you are aside from the slayer and be those women." He looked to Faith. "Of course that means, no being a murderer." Faith lifted her hands up in surrender.

"Hey. I owe to both Angel and Liam to stay on this path of redemption and helping others. Angel helped me when no one else would. Then Liam got going on working to be that woman I saw in his memories."

"What was that woman like?" Buffy asked curiously. Faith smiled and looked at her.

"Happy. Loved. Someone who people would actually like to be around because of her. Not because someone said to." Buffy smiled. Faith sat down next to Buffy. "I saw Liam and his sister when they were kids. I saw my child." Faith was getting tearful. "I had friends and family around me. The way I got that was by being a good person. I want to be a good person, not just because I saw my future. I want to be a good person because I want to be." Buffy smiled at her and placed a hand on hers.

"And you will be. And in some ways you are already." They smiled at each other. Giles smiled at the sister slayers getting along.

"I believe Liam did more than what we intentionally thought." Giles said. The slayers looked at him. "He brought this family closer together than ever."

"We owe him everything." Buffy said. "I like to think that he's resting in peace knowing that his family is getting along." Faith placed her head on Buffy's shoulder and hugged her. Buffy hugged back. Giles smiled.

…

Later that day at the magic shop, Xander and Tara were sitting at the round table reading. The door jingled as Willow entered. Anya appeared from the side.

"Hey. You're late." Anya said.

"Oh. I, uh, had to get that thing." Willow said a little too casual. She went to the counter, holding a small leather bag.

"Giles isn't around, you can dump the cryptic." Xander said.

"The last spell ingredient." She said nervously.

"Okay, right. What is vino de madre anyway?" Willow walked over to them.

"Wine of the mother. Kind of ... black market stuff."

"Black market, you-you didn't tell me that." Tara said. "You shouldn't have gone alone, it could have been dangerous."

"Sorry. I didn't ... I was careful."

"Well, it must be something pretty intense." Anya said. "The black market's all baby teeth and spooky fluids."

"All I know is we have to have it to finish the spell, so, it's good stuff in my book." She took a book from the bookshelf and returned to sit at the table. "How come you guys are here anyway? I thought we weren't gonna meet till later."

"Oh, we were." Xander said. "It just felt weird hanging out on our own."

"It's better if we stay together." Tara said. Willow took Tara's hand.

"Aw, you got butterflies, baby?" Willow said.

"More like bats."

"Y-you wanna look at the money?" Anya offered. "I find it always calms me." Xander smiled fondly.

"That's okay, thanks."

"You tell those bats that everything is gonna be all right." Willow said. "I promise. We couldn't be more prepared."

"I know, I just wish it was time, I…I can't stand worrying about it anymore."

"I know."

…

"Giles you didn't have to come back for a second night in a row." Buffy said. Once again, the slayers, the vampires, Dawn, and Giles were at the mansion later that night having a family dinner.

"Oh. But I want to." Giles said. "I really do enjoy these dinner's we have. And I love spending time with you all."

"Didn't know you cared so much." Spike said with a grin.

"Well, all it takes is just some spending some quality time with to really enjoy who you consider family."

"Another thing to thank Liam for." Spike said raising his cup of blood for a toast. "May the memory of the man live on forever and may he bring us closer together."

"Here, Here." Everyone said as they clanged glasses together. They drank and dug into the dinner that Angel prepared.

"Man Angel." Faith said. "How is it that you become such a great cook but you don't each food?"

"Well, when you're out in the world brooding and feeling guilty for a hundred years, you kinda pick up a few things to keep you occupied." Angel responded.

"Such as drawing, cooking, and brooding." Dawn said.

"Yes." Angel laughed. "Such as those."

"But it's nice." Buffy said. "And he stopped brooding so much."

"That's because of you guys. For once in over two hundred years, I have family." Buffy leaned over and they kissed.

"Get a room." Spike said. Faith eyed him.

…

In the forest that night, Tara, Willow, Xander, and Anya were standing in a semicircle beside Liam's grave. Willow was directly at the foot of the grave. Xander and Tara held lit candles.

"Does everybody have their candles?" Willow asked.

"I'm trying, my lighter won't stay lit." Anya said flicking her lighter continuously.

"Well, hurry, it has to…"

"What time is it?" Tara asked.

"A minute till midnight." Xander said checking his watch.

"C'mon, Anya, do you have it?" Willow said urgently. Anya got the lighter lit and lit her candle.

"I got it, I got it. I got it." She said.

"Okay. Start the circle. Now." They all kneeled, holding their candles, except Willow who held the Urn of Osiris. Willow produced a small jar and poured, what appeared to be blood, into the urn. Tara and Xander look nervous. "Osiris, keeper of the gate, master of all fate, hear us." She dipped her finger into the urn and marked her forehead and both cheeks with the blood. "Before time, and after. Before knowing and nothing." She poured the contents of the urn onto the earth. "Accept our offering. Know our prayer." Suddenly she jerked backward, panting, and her arms went out at her sides. Deep ugly gashes appeared on her arms.

"Willow!" Xander tried to reach for her.

"No!" Tara said. "She t - she told me ... she'd be tested. This is supposed to happen."

"Osiris! "Willow chanted louder. "Here lies a warrior of the people. Let him cross over." Willow winced in pain. Blood ran from the cuts on her arms. Round shapes moved under her skin. She gave a little moan of pain. The round things moved up her arms and over her chest toward her neck.

"She needs help!" Xander said.

"Xander, she's strong!" Tara said. "She said not to stop, no matter what. If we break the cycle now, it's over." They all watched anxiously. Willow continued breathing heavily.

"Osiris, let him cross over!" Willow said louder. "Aah..." Willow made choking noises as the round things under her skin moved up her neck.

"Oh my god, oh my god." Tara said. Willow leaned forward putting her hands on the ground, gagging. A snake head appeared in her open mouth. The snake slithered out her mouth and onto the ground. The others looked horrified. "It's a test." Tara said anxiously. "It's a test. Willow..." Willow was still leaning over the ground with her mouth still open. Anya, Xander, and Tara continued staring as orange light swirled around Willow, who was kneeling up again, panting loudly.

"Osiris, release him!" Willow said. The red light dissipates and Willow fell to the ground. The fire on the candles all blew out at the same time.

"Willow!" Tara said going to her. Willow was still panting on the ground. Xander and Anya came forward as well. The all kneeled by Willow. "Are you alright?" Willow looked up at them.

"Did….did….did it work?" Willow panted weakly. They all looked at the grave and then around them, hoping for some sign that their plan, all their effort, paid off. They noticed nothing.

"I'm not sure." Xander said. "Shouldn't there be some sorta sign? Like maybe Liam's body materializing or something."

"I don't know." Tara said.

…

In the ground, into blackness, into Liam's coffin, Liam lay there in the same position as he was buried in. His chest was rising and setting at a moderate pace. His face now had a full grown beard and his hair had grown to shoulder length. The orange mist from before swirled around his head. As the mist moved around the body, Liam continued to breath. The mist settled into his head and his brain glowed and then stopped. Liam awoke wide-eyed and gasping. He looked around, panting, with an expression of confusion and fear. All of the sudden, he gasped in pain and held his chest. He clenched his teeth and shut his eyes tight, the pain in his chest intensified. Liam started withering in his coffin. He banged his hand on the coffin ceiling as his other hand held his chest. The pain was unbearable. To him it felt like something was clawing inside of him. The hand he was banging with, stopped, and started twitching. Liam yelled in pain. The hand started turning blue and it turned into a claw. Liam saw this and gasped in fear. He shut his eyes again and ripped off his tie. His other hand turned into a claw too and Liam started thrashing. He opened his mouth and his teeth turned into canine teeth. His screams and gasps, started turning into growls and roars. His face turned to the same shad of blue as his claws. His face started to get all bumpy and they were framed by almost horned like protrusions. His ears elongated. He thrashed and withered in his coffin before punching the coffin ceiling and making a hole.

…

Back on the surface, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara were still kneeling before Liam's grave, wondering what to do next.

"Maybe you did something wrong." Anya suggested to Willow.

"No. No. I did everything right." Willow countered. "I triple checked everything. I went through the test and I know I passed."

"Then why didn't anything happen, Will?" Xander asked.

"Maybe something did happen." Tara said and looked at the grave. "Maybe we just can't see it." They all got the same revelation.

"Oh god."

"We didn't unbury him." Anya said in shock.

"He could be down there alive." Willow said fearfully.

"We gotta get him out." Xander said and started digging with his bare hands. "Mind helping me." the others started digging as well, moving dirt away so that they could reach Liam's coffin. "Will, mind using some magic to get this moving along."

"Not after that." Willow said. "I'm too drained."

"Tara."

"I can try." Tara said. They all moved away as Tara looked at the small hole they made and raised her hand. Suddenly a claw burst out from below, making them all scream. They watched as another claw came out. The claws moved around frantically and grabbed the edges of the hole they made and pulled out the body they were attached to. A blue, horned-faced, demon crouched at the spot of hole with its head bowed and breathing heavily. They gang stared at it in fear. The demon didn't seem to have noticed their presence. Xander tried silently to grab the girls and pull them away. Willow jerked her arm away as she saw the cross necklace hung around the demons neck and she noticed the coat too.

"Liam?" she said weakly. The demon jerked its head up looking at them with blood red eyes. Willow crawled back in horror. The demon growled and let out a fearful roar. The gang screamed and got up and ran. The demon snarled and lunged forward at them.

**So what do you think? Can you guess what Liam is? How about, how he got that way in the first place? Why did the mist make his brain glow? And what's with the motorcycle sound in Buffy's dream? All good questions. This is just the beginning. More chapters will come. And Liam is going to have a boat load of surprises waiting for him. Yes, he will be back to normal. Don't you worry. Comment and Review. Stay tuned.**


	2. Bargaining part 2

Chapter 2: Bargaining Part 2

**I bet you all were surprised with the whole Liam is a demon thing, right? Well I have a reason for it. I'm wondering if you guys know how and why he is this thing. Well I'll tell you guys soon. But first, the new chapter. New chapter arrival. You might remember her. Enjoy.**

"That was really good, Angel" Buffy said as she sat on one of the couches. The family had finished the great dinner Angel prepared and were now lounging in the living room.

"Well I made it especially for you." Angel replied kissing her temple.

"And what about us?" Spike asked. "Didn't make it for us?"

"Well one, you can't taste my food. And two, when I cook, it's usually for Buffy."

"But you like cooking for the rest of us, right?" Dawn asked sitting on Buffy's other side.

"Well, cooking does give me some bit of pleasure."

"And I don't?" Buffy asked looking a little hurt.

"Better watch what you say Angel-face." Faith said laughing. "You know how Buffy gets when she's pregnant."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy asked accusingly to Faith. Faith's smile faded as the rest of the family started to laugh.

"Sorry to cut this little get together short, but Spike and I need to go and patrol." Faith said getting up, hoping to avoid any problems with the pregnant slayer.

"Yeah, right." Spike said smiling and standing up next to Faith. "Better get to it." Faith gave him a look.

"Can I come too?" Buffy asked.

"No Buffy." Angel said. "You're pregnant and slower than you were before."

"You can come too. And all I want to do is just go out and walk. No slaying vampires I swear. I just don't want to sit in this house again."

"I agree with Angel." Giles said. "You are slower than you were and a pregnant slayer is an easy target for demons."

"Look. I get that everyone wants to protect me an all, but I am going crazy here."

"Preaching to the choir." Faith said. "I say that Buffy can come. But if we do face any vamps and demons, she has to go to cover and Angel protects her. Spike and I can handle anything else that comes near her."

"Yeah. I like that plan." Buffy said smiling.

"You know I don't like this." Angel said with a frown.

"Angel, I know for a fact that you care a lot about me and Connor. I know that if anything looks at me funny, you'll be there to rip its head off. I think I'll be safe." Angel smiled at her compliment.

"Fine." He relented. "But the second that anything happens, you stay by me and hide."

"Understood." Buffy said standing up. "Giles can you watch Dawn?"

"She's old enough to be watched." Giles said. "I can come with you." He remembered the last time he watched Dawn alone and didn't want a repeat.

"Yeah." Dawn said agreeing. "I can watch myself. No one's after me anymore. I'm not the key."

"I don't care if you're not to be touched by rule of the powers and the forces of darkness." Buffy countered. "You still need to be watched." Dawn didn't look happy. Giles looked worse. "We won't be long."

"Please don't be long." Giles muttered to himself. Buffy got her coat on and the vampires and slayers left.

"So what d…" Dawn started but was cut off by Giles.

"We will not listen to music sung by people for their talent to dance, we will not eat cookie dough, and we will definitely not talk about boys." Giles said sternly. Dawn slumped on the couch and pouted.

"Buffy and her friends are out for a walk and the rest of the gang is off doing something else. I hope they are having fun."

…

Demon Liam lunged at the scoobies and swiped at them. He missed. Xander grabbed Willow and they all started to run. Liam swiped at them again but his claw slammed down on the ground, on the urn and broke it. He looked at his hand that had blood on it and licked it. The rest of the gang watched then turned and left. Demon Liam saw them and went after them. The gang ran as fast as they could, but Demon Liam was faster. He didn't stand on up right legs, but that didn't slow him down. He galloped toward them. He lunged again and grabbed Xander by the legs. Xander fell down.

"Xander." Anya said. Everyone turned. Liam climbed onto Xander and hit him several times. He leaned down to bite him but was thrown back by a force. He got up and saw Tara holding her hand out and holding Willows.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." Xander said repeatedly getting up. He held his face where a deep gash was left. Demon Liam growled and lunged forward again. Tara held up her arm and Liam hit an invisible barrier. He got back up and lunged again, hitting the barrier. Again he lunged and hit the barrier. Finally he lunged again, but this time, Tara said an incantation and Liam went flying back, hitting a tree and slumping to the ground.

"Did you….kill him?" Willow asked. Demon Liam awoke and got up staring at them.

"No." Tara said looking scared. Demon Liam growled at them, turned, and went the opposite direction. "This is bad. Really bad."

"No kidding." Xander said. "We try to bring back someone we care about and got a demon instead."

"We have to tell Buffy." Anya said. "Or at least Faith."

"No."

"They are the only ones that I can come up with that might beat him."

"Maybe so, but magic got us into this, magic can get us out. Right Willow?" Willow didn't respond. "Will?"

"Oh my god." Willow said. "What have I done?"

…

"Created a monster." Buffy said. She and Faith were walking together while Spike and Angel took the rear a few yards away. "That's what I've done. I've created a monster."

"Oh come on." Faith said. "Angel's not that bad."

"At first I loved it. He would do anything for me. He would carry me around so that I wouldn't get all tired. He would have a fresh plate of food of my choosing ready whenever I was hungry. He would even make a bubble bath ready for me and wash me himself." Faith laughed.

"And you're complaining about that? Sounds to me like you got the perfect man."

"He is the perfect man to me. But he's treating me like I'm so sort of rare diamond made of glass. The minute something touches me, he'll get into protection mode. I know it's for the baby and everything, but I'm not helpless. Sometimes I want to make myself some breakfast. I want to have my own bubble baths. I wanna walk when I wanna walk."

"Geez. You are pregnant aren't you?" Buffy gave her a look.

"I'm not some helpless high school girl anymore."

"I think he knows that B. He just wants to protect you and the kid. Shame on him for trying to be a good husband and a good father. Not that I know much about that." Faith looked down solemnly.

"Oh Faith. Don't think about your own dad. He wasn't what was best for you. Believe me, my own father didn't even show up for my mother's funeral. He didn't even call when she got sick. He's been in Spain with his secretary."

"Living the cliché." Faith said with a grin.

"Yeah. And you don't need your father. You have us."

"I know." Faith looked to her sister slayer and smiled. "All I'm saying is that Angel's trying to make an effort."

"I know he is. And I love him for it. I just want him to stop being so over protective and hovering over me."

…

"I know she doesn't want me to be over protective and hovering over her," Angel said to Spike. "But if something were ever to happen to them, I could never forgive myself."

"I can understand that." Spike said. "I mean, after Liam, I would have done the same thing had it happened to some I loved."

"Thanks for understanding, Spike." Angel made a face. "I cannot believe I am actually saying those words."

"It's weird just hearin' them come from ya'. I'm use to 'Spike shut up' and 'Spike go away'. But 'thanks', even if what Liam said is true and we get along, it's still weird."

"I know. And what makes it even weirder is that I actually mean it."

"Better not let any of the demon population hear ya' say that. Even with that soul, they think you're ruthless. Don't let them think otherwise. Or else it's open season of Buffy."

"I won't let anything happen to her."

"I know. I remember the poundings you gave me when I went to go and try to hurt her."

"And don't you forget it." Angel said with a grin. Surprisingly, Spike grinned too. "I just don't want Buffy to get hurt."

"Don't worry about her so much. After all, she is the slayer. And no demon is crazy enough to face you and her pissed. Especially a hormonally, mood swingin', pregnant slayer."

Unknown to them, a vampire was in an alley that they passed and heard both of their conversations. He smiled and ran in the other direction, snickering. The slayer was pregnant. Means easy target. The sky that night was growing cloudy. A storm was coming.

…

Demon Liam was running through the woods snarling. His suit was now dirty and torn in a few places. His shirt was ripped from where he tore off his tie and it was open, revealing his chest. His cross necklace hung loosely around his neck. He stopped and sniffed the air. He growled and took off running again. He came onto the streets of Sunnydale and looked around, sniffing the air. He saw a woman walking and a man coming up behind her and forcing her into an alley. She struggled. Liam growled and went into the alley after them. A male scream rang out into the night.

…

Inside a bar, the vampire that overheard the slayers conversation came in. he saw a demon biker gang and went over to them.

"Hey." He said nervously.

"What do you want blood rat?" the head demon asked.

"Listen, I know you guys mind your own business and what not, but I've got something that you all might be interested in."

"If it's me being able to rip your head off for interrupting my time, then you have my attention."

"No. Nothing like that. It's about the slayer."

"Yeah we know. There's a new one on the Hellmouth."

"Yes. But what you don't know is that the old one is there too and she's pregnant."

"Pregnant?"

"Yeah. Saw her. She's slower than normal." One of the demons grabbed hold of the vampire and slammed down on the table, holding him there.

"Slayers don't get pregnant." The head demon said standing up. "And if they do, they don't last long."

"That's what I'm sayin'." The vampire gasped. "Easy target. You could totally kill her. She has a more noticeable weak spot. The stomach." The head demon looked at his cronies and smiled. "I guess with your muscle, you could totally take her out in no time." The vamp nervously laughed. "Hey look, I know you guys don't usually let vampires into your gang, and I got the whole sunlight issue. But I was thinking, you know, as thanks for the 4-1-1, you could let me go…" the head demon grabbed the vampire by the neck and lifted him off the table. The next second, the vampires headless corpse, fell to floor and turned to dust.

"I'll think it over." The head demon said brushing dust off himself. He looked over at his cronies, who were all watching. "Let's ride." They all cheered went out, getting on their bikes and riding off.

…

Xander, Willow, Anya, and Tara walked into the magic shop. They all looked depressed and scared.

"This is really, really bad." Xander said. "Demon Liam is on the loose and we have no way of knowing how to deal with a problem like this."

"I say we go…" Anya began but Xander cut her off.

"We can't tell the rest."

"Then do you think we should deal with this?" Tara asked.

"We'll just figure out how Liam became what he is, reverse it, and never tell anyone we screwed up."

"But with Liam being out there all beast like, don't you think that Buffy and Faith will know about him?" Anya asked.

"If we're lucky, they'll kill him, and they never have to know that it was him. Besides, I don't really think that was Liam. Not the one we knew anyway. It may have his clothes, but I don't think there was anything of the true Liam in there."

"There was. "Willow finally said. She hadn't said a word since they left Liam's gravesite. Everyone else gazed at her. "I could feel it. Liam's soul was in there." They were all in shock.

"You mean….that 'was' Liam that attacked us?" Tara asked nervously.

"I don't know if it was Liam, but he was there. The spell worked."

"Then how do you explain the whole demon horned thing going on?" Anya asked.

"I don't know. But I could sense that whatever caused it, it was dark. Something evil made him like that."

"So what's the plan, Will?" Xander asked. Willow thought for a minute.

"We're going to have to tell Buffy and the rest."

"What!?"

"If they find Liam first and kill him, he might revert back to his human form. And then there will be a lot of questions and we have some of the answers. It'll be better if we tell them."

"Willow, I'm not sure that's a good idea. We went behind their backs to bring Liam back and brought forth a monster instead."

"But it'll be worse if they find out and they knew that we knew what happened."

"But…."

"No Xander. We have to tell them. We should have done so in the first place."

"Willow's right." Tara said. "We probably never should've done this. We knew that there could be consequences."

"Exactly. We took a shot and blew it. Liam came back wrong. Now we have to live with the consequences and tell Buffy." Everyone looked uneasy at the thought but knew that Willow was right. They did something wrong and now Liam is back and is an animalistic demon. They couldn't keep this secret forever. They had to tell Buffy and the rest.

"So what now?" Anya asked.

"We'll go and tell Buffy." Willow answered.

"And then what?" Xander asked.

"Deal with her rant, fix Liam if possible, and then work on never doing something like this again." They all nodded in agreement. However, they knew that once buffy finds out, they were going to be in for a world of hurt. It nearly killed Buffy to kill Angel. She was very depressed when Liam died. Now she might have to go out and kill him. This could just tear Buffy apart.

…

Demon Liam was galloping through the town. He would stop, sniff the air, and run off in another direction. He came upon an alley and watched as a memory flashed before his eyes.

_Liam was walking into the alley and ducked behind a dumpster. A demon, wearing just about everything to hide it skin, came into the alley and stopped. It looked around and headed into the alley. Liam came out from behind the dumpster and slammed the demon into the wall. He talked to it before knifing it and searching the dead corpse. He found something on it and looked horrified. Liam through the demon into the dumpster and left the alley._

Demon Liam shook off the memory flash and growled. He galloped out of the alley, heading into any direction. He ran fast before coming to a halt and looks up. He saw the tower that Glory's minions built. Another memory came to his mind.

_A small girl with brown hair was wearing ceremonial dress and was tied to the platform at the top. Liam and a blonde haired man fought a bald man in a suit. The bald man grabbed the blonde and threw him off the tower. Liam fought with him and was thrown off himself._

Demon Liam came out of his daze and roared. He galloped towards the base of the tower. He stopped and looked up again. Another memory came to mind.

_Liam looked up as a ball of bright light and energy started growing and lighting was protruding out from it. He saw a blonde woman going towards the brown haired girl and throwing the bald man off the tower. Liam went up the stairs._

Demon Liam roared again and went up the stairs. Climbing on the scaffoldings to get to the top. Once he got there, he looked out at the platform. He moved to the edge of the platform and looked down as another memory came to his head.

_Liam saw the blonde woman crying and the brown haired girl crying with her. She hugged the brown girl and then hugged him. He hugged back. He had tears in his eyes as well. The blonde girl turned but Liam grabbed hold of her. She protested but Liam put a hand on her stomach and his eyes grew wide. So did hers. Liam shook his head and hugged her again. He pulled out and leaped over them and ran off the edge of the platform into the portal. _

Demon Liam came out of the memory and roared so loud that it echoed across the town. The tower creaks and shudders. Under Demon Liam's feet. He balanced himself to keep him from falling. The tower continued to creak and shake. A piece of tower fell off. The whole tower started to sway. Demon Liam went back to the stairs but they fell down. He growled and looked out towards the town. The tower started to fall apart. Demon Liam jumped off as the platform gave way and landed on the sidewalk. The tower crumbled and came fell down. Demon Liam looked back as the tower collapsed. He growled and turned the other way. He sniffed the air and went galloping off in another direction.

…

Buffy, Faith, Angel, and Spike had just entered into an alley. They hadn't seen any vampires or demons tonight. Buffy didn't really like it. She wanted to kill something. But at least Angel was glad and that meant that he didn't have to be all protective of her. Buffy liked that, but she still wanted a bit of action.

"I can't believe that there are no vampires at all tonight." Buffy said.

"Yeah. Finally, a nice quite night." Faith said smiling. This caught Buffy's attention. She had said the same thing in her dream.

"And that's unusual." Spike said with a grin. Buffy stopped walking and stood. She had heard that same line too. Liam had said it.

"Buffy, you ok?" Angel asked coming up next to her. Fait hand Spike stopped and looked at her. Buffy looked at them.

"Uh….nothing." She said. "Just catching a breathe."

"You sure you're ok?" Angel asked looking worried.

"Yeah. Fine." Then they heard the sound of metal banging together off in the distance.

"What was that?" Faith asked.

"Sounds like sounding collapsed." Spike said. "Maybe Glory's tower? It was built by crazy people."

"Maybe." Angel said. "We should probably check it out." All of the sudden, they heard motorcycle noises and a dozen or so motorcycles came roaring into the alley that they were in and started circling them. Big ugly demons road them and were cheering. Acting on instinct, Angel put Buffy behind him and Spike and Faith completed the triangle protecting Buffy.

"Hellions." Spike said.

"They usually don't come to towns that have a slayer." Angel said. "Especially two."

"Then why are they here?" Faith asked. The bikes stopped and made a circle around the four. The demons got off, all carrying types of weapons. Chains, metal poles, knives.

"So, a slayer really is pregnant." The lead demon said eyeing Buffy. "Easy pickens."

"You might wanna consider getting on your bikes going." Angel said menacingly. "But I'm actually kinda hoping you won't."

"Angelus. Don't think that we didn't know about you and the slayer. We came prepared." A number of demons held out crosses and holy water. "We know yours and William the Bloody's weakness."

"But you don't have mine." Faith retorted.

"Don't too. All we need is a second for you to focus on one of us, and the mother to be will be ours."

"You're not going anywhere near her." Spike said.

"Think again." The demons started making their way to the group. They all stood in fighting stance ready for anything. A few demons with holy water, were ready to chuck them at Angel and Spike. Before they could throw them, a loud roar rang out. Everyone looked around for the source. Suddenly, a figure dropped down form above in a crouched position. It was a blue-skinned, horned faced, demon with blood red eyes and wore a suit with the shirt ripped up at the collar and a coat. The demon looked at the hellions and growled at them. They heard thunder as the storm headed their way.

"What the hell is that thing?" One demon asked.

"Doesn't matter." The lead demon said. "Kill it." The hellions made a move to the demon that just joined, but before they could even think of what to do, the demon roared and attacked the nearest hellion, forcing him to the ground and slashed his face twice. He was dead. The demon jumped and landed behind another demon and broke its neck. The demon pounced lashed another's throat before slamming another into a wall. One of the hellions tried to attack the demon with a chain, but the demon grabbed the chain and wrapped it around the hellion's neck and swung him into the all. The hellion fell with a thud, dead. There were only three hellions left. One came after the demon with a pipe, but the demon moved out of the way and rammed its claw right through the hellions back. The last of two hellions came after with a knife but the demon grabbed his arm and through him against the wall .then came over and ripped his jaw off. The lead demon was all that was left. He saw the devastation of his gang and laughed nervously. He turned and tried to run, but the demon that destroyed his gang, leaped up and landed on the lead demon. He fell to the ground and the demon grabbed hold of his head, twist, and popped the head right off. Lightning struck and thunder roared. Wind started to blow. The storm was right on top of them. The slayers and vampires looked at the demon with shock and awe.

"Are um…thanks in order?" Spike asked.

"Don't know." Buffy said. "This thing could very well be after us too."

"Then we should move." Faith suggested and started to move away from the demon with Spike and Buffy. Angel still stood looking at the demon.

"Angel." Buffy whispered.

"I know that demon." Angel said.

"Great, now come on." Spike whispered. Before anyone else could do anything, the demon whirled around and growled at them. "Oh bugger." The demon leaped and attacked Spike. It lunged so hard, that when it hit Spike, they went back several feet. The demon started slashing and hitting Spike. Spike screamed in pain.

"We have to help him." Faith said and came up to the demon. She kicked it off of Spike and it instantly went after her.

"Check on Spike." Angel ordered Buffy and went to help out Faith. Buffy checked Spike who had a number of slash marks over his chest and face.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

"Thing packs a punch. "Spike said getting up. "Any ideas on how to kill it?" They looked at the demon battling Fait hand Angel coming in and grabbing it from behind.

"Not really." Faith kicked the demon a few times before it got angry and broke free of Angels' grasp and threw at Faith, sending them into the wall.

"Faith." Spike yelled and ran at the demon. He got on its back and grappled with it. Buffy watched helplessly. She couldn't do anything. Not with the baby. Spike and the demon continued to grapple some more before the demon grabbed Spike and flung him towards Angel and Faith who were getting up. He crashed into them and they all fell down. The demon turned to Buffy who looked scared. Lightning flashed as another roll of thunder sounded. She tried backing away slowly, but the demon didn't seem to care. It lunged at Buffy who moved out of the way just in time. But the demon seemed smart and grabbed Buffy by the neck and threw her into a wall. She slid down

"Buffy!" Angel yelled. Buffy got up and faced the demon. It came roaring at her and Buffy went to punch it but it grabbed her fist and flung her into another wall. She got up and tried to kick it as it came after her, but the baby slowed her down. She kicked the demon on the stomach, aiming for the head. It growled and grabbed her, throwing her to the ground. It kneeled over her. There was another flash of lightning and Buffy saw a glint of light reflecting off of something around the demons neck. Buffy saw and gazed wide eyed at the silver cross necklace that the demon was wearing that matched perfectly with hers. She looked at its clothing and remembered that it was the same suit that they buried Liam in. It also had his coat on.

"Liam." She whispered. The demon snarled and bent down to bite her. She screamed and then heard the sound of a motorcycle coming her way. She looked and sure enough, a motorcycle came into the alley. Demon Liam got distracted by the sound of the motorcycle and the head lights. The motorcycle went up on its front wheel and turned. The back wheel hit Demon Liam and he went flying into some trash cans. The motorcycle did a few doughnuts before skidding to a halt. Angel went over to Buffy and helped her up. Everyone was staring at the new arrival. The person on the motorcycle was a woman, clad in leather, with a helmet on and a broadsword slung over her back. She turned off the engine and kicked the stand down, while grinding her boot into the ground. She got off and stood in a fighting stance facing Demon Liam. Liam hopped out of the trash cans and looked at the woman with a snarl. Spike and Faith made it over to Buffy and Angel and stood with them.

"Who's she?" Spike asked looking a bit impressed.

"Don't know." Angel said. "But I think we say our thanks and go."

"Seconded." Faith said. They mad to go, but Buffy stayed staring at the woman and what she assumed was her son."

"Buffy, come on." Angel said and went grab her arm.

"No." Buffy said yanking her arm away.

"Buffy, it's not safe here."

"I'm not leaving."

"Why not?"

"Because I think I know what that is." They all looked at the demon and the woman. Rain started to come down. The storm was now upon them. The woman grabbed her broadsword and brought it out of the sheath on her back. She stood ready for an attack. Demon Liam growled and lunged forward. As a flash of lightning struck, followed by thunder. The woman swiped and hit Demon Liam in the side, he went down in pain but got back up and swiped at her with his claw. She dodged it and slashed at Liam again, getting his arm. He roared in pain. He got on his arms and kicked her with both feet, sending her back a few feet. She composed herself and stood ready for another attack. Demon Liam came after her and swiped, but she slashed him on the other side. He went down. The woman came over and kicked Liam onto his back and put her foot on his chest. She raised the sword up, ready to deliver the finishing blow.

"No!" Buffy yelled and the woman hesitated for a second, before plunging the sword down. But demon Liam caught it and held it. The woman tried to get her sword back but stopped and cocked her head to the side, as if eyeing something. Another flash of lightning. Liam threw her off of him and got up. She straightened up, but instead of going into an attack position, she went into a defensive position. Demon Liam came after her swiping and growling. The woman didn't seem interested in hurting Liam anymore. Instead, she seemed more into defending herself and trying to break his defenses. Liam swiped and the girl maneuvered around and kicked Liam into the wall. He turned around and went back to fighting. Demon Liam swiped and slashed so hard that he knocked the sword out of her hand. She immediately went to blocking his attacks. At first, they seemed evenly matched, but Liam seemed stronger and knocked her off balanced. He hit her a number times, scratching the helmet. He kept hitting her on the head. Finally he gave one good swipe upward and knocked her off her feet. The hit was so powerful, it knocked her helmet off. She landed with a thud and groan. The slayers and the vampires saw her face. She was really quite beautiful, with dark colored hair and big dark brown eyes. However, she looked scared as Demon Liam came over to her.

"We need to help her." Faith said and ran to her. Demon Liam was about to swipe at the girl but stopped and took a step back. Faith stopped too, wandering why he stopped. Demon Liam looked at the girl on the ground and cocked his head to the side. She lifted herself up on one elbow and looked at him. They stared at each other for a minute. Buffy and the rest looked upon them, wandering what was going on. All of a sudden, Demon Liam roared and took a few steps back. He closed his eyes and held his head as he roared in pain. They all looked as he did this. He fell to his knees and continued to roar. The girl looked even more scared then before. Demon Liam withered as he held his head. His blue claws were now slowly turning back to white and hands. His horns were receding back into his head. His roars were starting to sound like normal human screams. His face turned to the same shade of white as his hands and the bumps turned into smooth surfaces. Normal Liam, with his long hair and beard, was now before them, screaming in pain. He dropped to the ground and withered for a few moments before collapsing and panting heavily. They all looked at the sight in front of them.

"Liam?" Faith asked.

"I saw his necklace and his coat." Buffy said. They all looked at her. "I knew that it was him."

"And you didn't tell us?" Spike demanded.

"I was a little shocked at the fact that my son was back and was some sort of demon."

"Not just any demon." Angel said looking at his son. Everyone looked to him. "That was the demon that's inside all vampires. I turned into it in Pylea." They all looked back at the Liam and the woman, who was staring at Liam.

"So what?" Spike asked. "Does that mean he's….a vampire?"

"I don't know." The woman sat up and slid over to Liam who was still panting. She leaned over him and looked into his eyes, letting her damp hair drape his face.

"Liam?" she whispered to him.

"Delai?" he whispered back and fell into unconsciousness as the rain came down harder.

**End of chapter. What do you think? Surprised at Liam's transformation? Or how about his wife being there in the past? Cool stuff. More to come. Answers to questions will come. Next chapter should answer a lot of questions. Comment and Review.**


	3. After Life

Chapter 3: After Life

**Ok. So last chapter, Liam came back as a demon and turned back after he saw his wife. Delia Winters is in this chapter y'all. She'll play a lot of roles in this story. Tell me what you guys think of her after you read more. This chapter will explain Liam's demon and how he got his beard and didn't technically die. Enjoy.**

Buffy, Angel, Faith, Spike, and this new girl all looked at the unconscious Liam. They were all shocked at what they just saw. A demon that they had just been fighting with a minute ago, turned into the man they all thought died four months ago. And this new girl that showed up, seemed to know him. She was sitting by Liam, staring at him as the rain showered over them. Buffy started to walk forward and knelt by her son.

"Liam" she said. She didn't get response. Liam just lay there, breathing. That was a good sign.

"We have to get him to a safe place and make sure he's alright." The girl said.

"Who are you?" Buffy demanded.

"Delia Winters. I'm a friend."

"You mean a friend from the future?" Spike said coming over with the rest. Angel knelt down with Buffy and looked at this son. Delia looked surprised at what Spike had said.

"How do you know?" She asked.

"He told us." Faith answered. "But right now, we need to get out of this storm and find shelter."

"We also probably should figure out how and why Liam turned into that demon." Angel said.

"Best place to start looking for answers about raised dead beings would be his grave." Spike said. Angel nodded.

"Wait." Delia said. "Liam died?"

"Yeah. And right now we need to make sure he stays alive." Faith said as she went to pick Liam up by the head. "Mind getting his feet?" Delia moved to pick Liam up by his feet.

"Put him on my bike. It'll be easier for us to carry him to some place safe." The girls moved Liam and placed him on the bike. "Got any place that's safe around here?"

"We can go back to the mansion." Buffy said. "We know the way."

"You lead, I follow."

"That's the plan." Buffy said darkly. She didn't trust this new girl that just showed up out of the blue.

"Spike and I will head on over to Liam's grave and try to figure out what happened." Angel said.

"Ok. Be careful." Buffy said. Angel nodded and kissed her. Faith looked at Spike and they both gave each other nods. Angel parted form Buffy and went with Spike towards Liam grave. Buffy turned to Delia. "Ok. Follow us." She ordered. Delia nodded and scooped up her discarded sword. The girls all went in the direction of the mansion with Liam on the bike.

…

Giles looked out the window at the storm that was now over Sunnydale. Buffy and the rest had not returned. He was getting worried. So was Dawn.

"I hope they're alright?" Dawn said. She was sitting on the couch fiddling with her thumbs nervously. She and Buffy had grown close over the summer and she really loved the child that Buffy was going to have. She also got along with Faith, who in return, was nice to her. She was a totally different person then before. Even though technically, Faith and Dawn never met until she got out of prison.

"I have no doubt that the four of them can take care of themselves." Giles said and moved away from the window. "But I do as well, hope that they are alright. This storm looks bad out there."

"I just hope nothing happens to Buffy. I'd hate to see her get hurt and lose Connor. Especially after losing Liam."

"Buffy will not lose Connor. And in time when she and Angel conceive Liam, they will not lose him. They will get him back." He smiled at her. She smiled back. Not two seconds later, the door opened and a wet Buffy entered, followed by a wet Faith and some dark haired girl, carrying an unconscious man. "Buffy?"

"Dawn move." Buffy ordered. Dawn did as she was told. "Move him here." Faith and the girl moved the man onto the couch.

"Buffy, what's going on?" Dawn asked.

"Once we find out, we'll tell you." Faith said. She and the new girl positioned the man so that he was lying in a comfortable position on the couch.

"Buffy, who is this man?" Giles asked.

"It's Liam." Buffy said not looking at him. Giles and Dawn were stunned.

"Liam?"

"Yeah." Faith said. "And you'll never guess how we discovered him."

"How is it that he has returned?" Giles asked. "How is he alive?"

"Angel and Spike went to his gravesite to find clues." Buffy said.

"I'm actually more interested in how he died, came back, and how he turned into that thing." The girl said.

"And who is she?" Dawn asked.

"Delia Winters. I'm a friend of Liam's."

"From the future." Faith added.

"The future?" Giles asked. Delia nodded.

"Ok, now that we're all caught up on the new girl, let's take care of Liam." Buffy said. "Dawn get some blankets to keep him warm. Faith, why don't you go and get us some clothes so we don't catch a cold." The girls nodded and went upstairs to get the supplies. Buffy turned to Delia who was crouched by Liam. "And you," Delia turned to Buffy who crossed her arms. "I want answers."

"About what?" Delia asked.

"Who you are? What are you doing here? If you're really a friend? Those kinds of things."

"I told you. I'm Delia. I'm Liam's friend and I'm here to help him."

"The last person, who said that to us, ended up making me and Angel forming plans to kill Liam."

"I'm telling you the truth."

"And yet, I don't believe you."

"As you shouldn't. No wonder you're renowned." Delia smiled. Buffy looked perplexed. She once wondered about the nowned, renowned thing. Now she finds out she's renowned in the future. Faith and Dawn came back from upstairs. Faith had changed into dry clothes and handed Buffy some. "I guess I'll go change. Watch her." She told Faith. Faith nodded as Buffy left the room to change. Dawn came over with a blanket and draped it over Liam. Dawn stared at him.

"How does he have a beard?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know." Delia said.

"Maybe he wasn't dead at all." Faith suggested. Everyone looked at her. "All I'm saying is that some people fake their own deaths and change their appearance so that they can't be recognized."

"It's an interesting theory." Giles said. "He has done things in the past that we all have questioned. This could very well be another one of his plans for the future."

"Then how do you guys explain the demon he turned into?" Delia asked.

"Demon?"

"Liam was this demon that attacked us." Faith explained. "He took out these demons that were trying to kill Buffy and Connor, then rounded on us and beat us. Until little miss future girl came along and beat him back." Faith looked at Delia with a curious expression. "You were about to kill when he grabbed your sword and threw you off. Instead of trying to kill him like you were, you went to defend yourself. Why?" Delia bit her lip.

"Because I knew who he was after that." Delia said. "I saw the cross necklace around his neck. He never took it off for any reason after his sister died."

"Do you know how?" Buffy asked coming in after changing quickly into sweats. Delia sighed.

"Yeah I do. He killed her."

"Liam killed his own sister?" Dawn asked in shock.

"He was undercover in an organization and when she was captured, she told him to kill her to sell the deception. Liam was a mess after that. It took him about a month to even get back to work and talk to people. Made a lot of people sad just by looking at him in his state."

"And I bet everyone on both sides know that story." Buffy said while folding her arms. "Still doesn't let us know if we should trust you or kill you."

"Look." Delia stood up and faced Buffy. "I know you don't trust me and you have reasons for doing so. But I am not here to hurt any of you. I am here to help. You all want proof, wait until Liam wakes up and then he'll decide." Just then, Liam stirred and groaned. Delia went over and crouched by Liam. "Liam." She whispered to him. Liam opened his eyes and blinked a few times, getting his vision into focus.

"Delia?" Liam said. "Is this a dream?" Delia smiled.

"No. I'm really here."

"Are you sure?" Liam looked her up and down and raised an eyebrow. "Cause you're in leather." They both laughed. Delia playfully hit Liam's chest.

"Glad to know that you're still you."

"Liam." Buffy said coming over and sitting on the coffee table in front of him."

"Hey mom." Liam said. Then opened his eyes wide at Buffy and then looked to Delia and gasped. "Dream just turned into nightmare." Buffy looked offended.

"What? She's a dream and I'm a nightmare?"

"No. She's a dream. You're a dream. You two together, equals nightmare."

"Liam this isn't a nightmare." Faith said coming over. Liam looked at her, confused.

"Faith? When did you get here? I thought I was going to come and get you."

"Angel got me instead."

"What happened?" Liam sat up. "Did the fight with Glory knock me out or something?"

"Or something." Faith muttered.

"Liam, you've been….gone for some time." Buffy said.

"I'll say." Liam said looking at his mother's swollen stomach. "Faith's here, Delia's here, mom looks like she's half way through her pregnancy." He looked to everyone in the room. "How long have I been out?" Before anyone could answer, the door burst open and Angel and Spike came striding in, all wet from the rain. Angel looked pissed.

"Where are the scoobies?" he demanded.

"They haven't arrived." Giles answered. "Did you and Spike determine anything from Liam's gravesite?"

"Gravesite?" Liam sounded shocked. Angel looked to his now conscious son and forgot about Giles question.

"Liam." he said and came over to hug his son. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, dad. Fine." Angel hugged his son tight, not wanting to let go of him again. "Dad, crushing me." Liam gasped. Angel pulled away.

"Sorry." He said. Then Buffy hugged her son.

"As much as I enjoy the love fest here," he pulled from Buffy. "I have some questions that I would like answered."

"So do we all." Spike said. The door opened again and the rest of the gang showed up, all of whom, wet. Xander carried an umbrella for him and Anya, and Tara and Willow wore ponchos.

"Hey guys." Xander said putting his umbrella down and walking in.

"It's storming out and that slowed us down." Anya said. "Xander slipped in a puddle and got more wet than we did."

"You can't really tell because we're all wet." Tara said.

"Yeah." Xander said. "But, it was kinda cool when I slipped and slid down the street."

"Guys." Willow said. "Not the time." They all nodded and came in further into the living room. "Buffy, there's something we need to tell you." Willow said. They all froze as they saw Liam on the couch. They however, did not recognize him. "Who's this?" Willow asked. Angel stood up, looking angry again.

"Willow." He said and pointed to Liam. "This is Liam." They all had faces of shock. They knew that Liam had returned. They brought him back. They didn't know that he would go back to being normal and his parents finding out. "Care to explain?"

"Angel, what are you talking about?" Buffy asked.

"This." He tossed something on to the coffee table and everyone saw it. It was a shattered portion of the Urn of Osiris.

"The Urn of Osiris." Spike said. "Very hard to find. Most of the gone. Now it seems all of them are gone."

"The Urn of Osiris is a key tool used in…resurrection spells." Giles said looking at the scoobies. He figured it out. As did everyone else.

"You brought my son back to life?" Buffy asked shocked.

"I was dead?" Liam asked more shock.

"You brought him back." Angel growled glaring at Willow. "Why?"

"Well….uh….we….." Willow stuttered.

"We were scared." Xander finally said. "We didn't know what to do about Wolfram and Hart and we didn't know what to do for this next event. Or even what the next event was. We brought him back to help us, and we brought him back to help him."

"Help him?" Delia asked.

"Who's she?" Xander asked eyeing Delia with a smile. Anya gave him a look.

"Delia Winters." Liam said. "A friend of my from the future." He stood up and stumbled a little before getting his balance, then started to pace.

"Are you ok?" Delia asked standing up.

"I will be once I get some of my questions answered." Liam stopped pacing and faced the group.

"First, my questions." Angel said and looked back at Willow.

"Well, Liam died by mystical hell energy." She explained. "He was sent to a hell dimension. We just wanted to save him." Angel was going to retort until Liam started laughing. Everyone looked to him.

"Why are you laughing?" Xander asked.

"Because, it's funny." Liam said calming himself. "It's funny to see the most powerful witch in my time, say something so first year student like."

"First year?" Willow asked. Liam came over to her.

"Willow, while I do appreciate you and the rest caring for me, you are thinking like a first year rank arrogant amateur." Willow looked offended. "It's not how you died that determines where you go Will. It's how you lived."

"What do mean?" Tara asked. Liam looked at everyone and then sighed heavily, pinching his nose.

"This is basic Theology 101. You do good, you go to heaven. You do bad, you go to hell. I knew that mom was going to die by jumping into the portal."

"We already know that." Xander said, "And by the way, nice heads up." Liam and Angel both sent him the same glare.

"I didn't want to tell mom because I didn't want that thought to go through her head at the time. What was I supposed to do? 'Hey mom, don't worry about saving Dawn and the world 'cause you'll jump in a portal, die, go to heaven, and Willow and your friends will tear you out.' Yeah, that's good conversation to have." Liam said sarcastically.

"Heaven?" Buffy whispered. Everyone stared at Liam at what he just said. Liam sighed again.

"Yes. Mom would die, go to heaven, and be ripped out by her friends who though she was sent to hell." Willow looked shocked and sad.

"I….I tore you….out of Heaven?" she stammered on the verge of tears. Liam looked at her.

"To be honest, I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Dawn asked.

"Well, when mom came back, she remembered everything about being in heaven. The peace. The feelings she had there. It was her being torn out of heaven and being thrown back into life without time to recuperate that caused her to go into a state of depression and sleep with Spike."

"What?!" Everyone shouted.

"Buffy sleeps with Spike?" Xander asked appalled.

"Hey, look, I stopped that from happening." Liam said. "But that's not the issue here. The issue is that mom remembered being in heaven. Why don't I?" They all looked at him.

"You don't remember?" Giles asked.

"No. I remember battling Glory's minions, saying good bye to my mom, telling her she's pregnant and jumping into the portal. Then I remember waking up in a dark place, cornered."

"That probably was your coffin." Anya said. Angel sent her a glare.

"Ok. Fine. Then I remember this pain in my chest, like…..like something was clawing on the inside. Then it stopped and I woke up here."

"So you don't remember anything about coming out of your grave a huge blue demon monster thing?" Xander asked.

"What?" Liam looked confused.

"Yeah." Faith said. "You were some blue demon and actually beat us all up." She indicated to some of the bruises she sustained.

"I can explain the demon you were." Angel said. Everyone looked to him. "While I was in Pylea, I could walk around in the sunlight and not be burned up. I had a reflection. I didn't have a bloodlust that was so great. But when a morphed into my game face, I changed into that demon. The demon that resides in all vampires."

"In its purest form." Liam finished. Angel nodded. "I remember this story. You took on the form of the type of demon that made the first vampire before it was sent out of this dimension."

"Yeah. And you looked exactly like it."

"How?"

"I think I might be able to find out." Delia said stepping forward. "During your conversation, I've been going through some cases in my head about demon physiology and biology, and I may be able to figure out what happened."

"Let me guess." Liam said frowning. "This is going to involve needles." Delia nodded.

"Whoa! Needles?" Xander said.

"Yeah. Delia is a top ranked biologist and demon biologist in my time. Without her, some people wouldn't be alive in the future."

"And I can probably find out how you got the way you got by looking at your blood." Delia said.

"You're not going anywhere near my son or any of us with sharp objects." Buffy said sternly.

"Why not?" Liam asked.

"Because I don't know if it's really this Corelia…."

"Just Delia." Both Liam and Delia said.

"Whatever. I don't know if she's who you're talking about or some demon who's trying to kill you."

"Oh." Liam said and looked to Delia. "Right." Delia sighed.

"Just get on with the questions so that we can all get along here." Delia said. Liam nodded and thought for a minute.

"First time we met." Liam said testing her.

"Street in LA. You bumped into me, my stuff fell down, you yelled, I called you a jackass, you apologized and asked me out for coffee. I refused and we didn't see each other until the next night after we stopped vampires from snacking on girls. Then I gave you my name." Liam nodded.

"Favorite ice cream?"

"Chocolate mint chip."

"Old books or electronic books?"

"Old books. There's just something about them that just makes me like reading and flipping pages." Delia smiled.

"Ok. Lightning round." Liam came closer to her, so that they were inches apart. "And this one determines if you're Delia or not." Delia nodded in agreement. "Our agreement?" Delia stood firmly for a second before answering.

"You were to go back in time and stop Wolfram and Hart from bringing about the apocalypse. You left on November 12. Our agreement was, if nothing happened in the future by Christmas. If you didn't come back or the future hadn't changed, I would come back to one year after you came back and find you. And help you." Liam studied her for a minute, determining if it's really Delia.

"Well Liam?" Spike said. "Is it your girlfriend or not."

"She's not my girlfriend." Delia looked stunned. Then Liam smiled. "But she's Delia." He hugged her and she hugged back. They both laughed in delight. "I'm so glad you're here."

"I'm glad I found you." They pulled away and looked at each other.

"How did you find me anyway?"

"When I came back, I took a motorcycle and an outfit and rode to Sunnydale. Saw the hellions roaring down the highway, cheering about a slayer they could kill. So I followed them. Surprisingly, they led me to you."

"Whatever's handy." Delia nodded smiling.

"Liam." Buffy said. Her son turned to her. "Are you sure that this girl is this Delia you talk about?"

"Yes. Positive."

"Ok, so she 'IS' your friend and we can trust her?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's move onto how she can help determine how you became this pure vampire thing."

"It's really quite simple." Delia explained. "I just need to take a blood sample from him and compare it to his original blood sample."

"You have my original blood sample with you?" Liam asked.

"Of course." She smirked.

…

After grabbing her things from her motorcycle, Delia took a blood sample from Liam and put it under a microscope. Comparing it to Liam's original blood sample. Everyone was seated around the dining room table, waiting for Delia to finish. Angel and Buffy glanced over at Willow and the rest of the scoobies that brought Liam back and glared at them every few minutes. They weren't happy that they brought Liam back without telling them. All of them, especially Willow, looked a little scared about what the parents might do. Liam noticed this and decided to make the record straight.

"I forgive you, Willow." Liam finally said. Everyone looked at him, except Delia who still studied his blood. "I'm mad that you didn't think to check to see if I was in heaven or in hell." Willow looked confused. "There are artifacts and spells and seers that could tell you where my soul went. I'm mad that you didn't think about any of that before you did the spell on me, or my mom. But since I changed that so you couldn't do that to my mom, I can't really be mad at you for that part." Willow frowned. "But I know that whenever you do something, your heart was always there helping out with the decision making. You are good person and I can see why you would think I would go where you think I went. But like I said, it's not about how you died. It's how you lived. Mom died by hell energy and went to heaven."

"I know." Willow said tearfully. "I'm sorry."

"And I forgive you. For one, I don't remembered being in any place beyond this."

"And I think I may have an answer." Delia said looking up. Everyone's attention was now on her.

"What do you got, Del?"

"Blood. Interesting blood too. I compared your blood sample with your other one, and found discrepancies."

"You're not going to go into bio-freaky-science talk are you?"

"No, What I'm going to tell you is that, your blood cells, seem to be fluxing in a state that I've seen in a few demons. Your original blood sample didn't really do that. But there was a trace or two. But now, it's like completely different."

"How so?"

"Like I said, I've seen this ins certain demons. Particularly vampires."

"So what are you saying?" Buffy asked. "Is he a vampire?"

"Yes and no." This made everyone confused.

"Del." Liam said. "Say things so that even Xander can understand."

"Hey." Xander said in annoyance.

"Based on your blood sample, I think you mutated." Delia explained. Everyone was silent.

"Mutated?" Dawn asked.

"Yes. And I've seen mutated blood. This is similar, but also way different."

"How?" Giles asked.

"Well I wouldn't really know at first, but after hearing your conversation about Liam jumping into a portal of hell energy and dying and then coming back as a vampire, I have a theory."

"Would be better if you said it out loud." Spike said. Liam was sitting next to him and smacked him upside the head. Spike looked annoyed. Xander smiled a little.

"Ok, so when Liam jumped into the portal, his blood caused it to close because he's Buffy's son and they share similar blood with each other and Dawn."

"We got that." Angel said. "How does this tell us what happened to Liam?"

"I'm getting there. Liam is different from Buffy in a big way."

"What way?" Giles asked.

"He's half-vampire. That's where he gets his strengths and heightened senses from. But he also has the potential to be full vampire."

"Full vampire?" Tara said nervously.

"Yes. When he jumped into the portal, the hell energy must have brought his demon side out more. His vampire side. And because he was born with it and it was so attached it him, they were entwined. So when the hell energy killed his human side, it brought out the demon side and the demon stopped him from dying completely."

"What are you saying Delia" Liam asked.

"I'm saying, you didn't die at all." Everyone was stunned in disbelief. "Not completely anyway. You probably entered into a comatosis or more like a brain dead state."

"Brain dead?" Faith asked.

"Yeah. While his brain may not be functioning at the time of his…absence, his other organs were still functioning. Especially with his demon side helping him out. When it comes to brain dead patients, they would usually have to have outside resources to keep their other organs in check. Most cases, they would shut them off because no one's really come back from being brain dead."

"And I'm the first." Liam said.

"I buried my son alive?" Buffy asked in disbelief.

"Looks like it." Delia said sadly.

"That would explain why he has the beard and the hair." Anya said.

"And why I don't remember going to heaven or hell." Liam said. "Because technically I never left."

"I buried my son alive." Buffy said again with tears forming. Angel held her.

"Mom it's ok."

"How can it be ok?" She yelled crying. "I held your lifeless body. It was still alive and I didn't know it. I buried you. I put you in the ground. How can you say that it's ok and not hate me?"

"Because I might have done the same thing. I wasn't waking up. I didn't give any sign that I was alive to you, even if there were and nobody could tell. And as for the hate you part, I could never hate you in my life." Buffy continued to cry and look at her son. "I mean come on. You're my mother. I could never do that." Buffy smiled but continued to cry. Willow, Tara, Dawn, and Faith all had tears growing.

"But if he was alive all this time, how did he wake up and become vampire monster?" Xander asked.

"Well it was the hell energy that mutated his demon side into becoming it. Being in the ground so long in a dormant state was probably its version of a caterpillar in cocoon.

"Hunh?" Xander asked.

"She means that while Liam was….sleeping," Willow explained. "The demon used that time to manifest into its form."

"Exactyl." Delia said. "But what sealed the deal was, your spell." Delia said.

"The spell?" Willow asked.

"Yes. Like I said, Liam was pretty much brain dead. Your spell must have brought his brain back to life. In doing that, his demon must have also come out and taken control."

"Explains the pain in my chest." Liam said. "It felt like something was clawing on the inside."

"Yes." Liam looked down and sighed. Delia looked to Angel. "You said that you turned into that thing in Pylea?"

"Yeah." Angel answered.

"How did you turn back?"

"I was in a cave with Fred and I saw my reflection in the water. I saw what I was. I was motivated enough to switch back into human form." Buffy held his hand, comforting him. "I could handle what I turned into here. But there….I never wanted to be like that."

"Fascinating." Giles said.

"And now I am." Liam said angrily and got up. He began to pace and then stopped and started laughing.

"What's so funny" Spike said, Liam stopped laughing and looked to them, smiling smugly.

"He did it." He whispered. "The bastard did it." His smile faded. "I worked hard to ensure that I would never become his son…..and he succeeded in making me his son."

"Who?" Giles asked.

"Angelus." Angel answered and looked at his son.

"Yeah." Liam leaned on the table. "He tortured me to bring out my demon side. It came out more when dad died. I brought it out even more to fight Pessimus. And now, because I saved the world, the demons out. I've finally become Angelus's son."

"No you haven't." Angel said getting up. "Just because your something like me, doesn't mean you're Angelus's son."

"Did you not see me before?" Liam shouted. "I'm remembering now. I remember changing and attacking the gang. I remember fighting you guys. I even remember what I looked like. I'm a monster."

"Only if you let yourself become it."

"I'm already it, dad."

"Not yet." Angel shouted. "You still have a chance of not becoming a monster. You can control this thing inside of you and use it for good. Use a bit of darkness to fight darkness. Your mom and me have demon in us too. Do you think that stops us from saving lives? We can do a lot of good with our powers and we do. You can too." Liam looked down and shook his head.

"Liam." Buffy said standing up. "I love you." Liam looked up at her. "Your father and I love you. No matter what. This is the result for saving the world and sacrificing yourself. Don't view it as a curse. View it as an opportunity to do more than you could before." Liam took in a breath.

"I'm going for a walk." He said and turned to leave.

"It's raining out."

"Don't care." He yelled back as he left. Buffy slumped in the chair and sat. Everyone sat in silence. Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara looked guilty. Faith and Spike were stunned. Giles was bewildered. Dawn was thoughtful. Buffy and Angel looked sad along with Delia. Liam had never really died, and his sacrifice for them had brought out something that he never wanted. He became something that he never wanted. He was a pure vampire now. He was a demon. And he hated himself for it.

…

Liam was walking along the sidewalk in the rain. He couldn't believe it. He was now more demon than he wanted. He was more than his father. His demon, he controlled. But Liam's, he couldn't control it. He attacked the gang. This was the result of him trying to save the world. He tried to save the future. He this is where it got him. He didn't know what to do now. How could he go on, knowing that he had a demon inside clawing to get out? He felt it. He felt the demon clawing at him, wanting freedom. He now understood what his father went through for over a hundred years. Kids used to always want to be like their fathers. Liam did too. Just not entirely. Out of everything that he wanted to be like his father, his demon was not on the list. He heard stories about how his father's demon ruined his father's life. Killed their friends and family. He never wanted to become something like that. Now, he feared that he might be closer to it than ever. And to top it all off, his wife was here. He never told his family about his wife. He knew that if he told them, it would just put pressure on him. His mother would ask about her and he didn't want to be distracted about missing her so much to focus on saving the future he wanted for her. If he had told his mother, he would talk forever about her. That would only make leaving her hurt more. He knew if that happened, he would hurt so much, he would find a spell to go back just to see her. But would that mean for the future he was trying to save. Would going back change things in a way he didn't want? What if he found her dead? He couldn't think of those possibilities. But she was here now. He could tell them and not deal with missing her so much. But then he would have to deal with his mom's rant about marrying her and then leaving her 60 seconds later. He saved the world and his mother and brother, and now he has to deal with a demon and his wife.

He was walking along the sidewalk thinking when he heard the sound of a motorcycle behind him and it stopped. He didn't. He kept walking.

"Liam." He heard his wife's voice. "Liam, talk to me."

"I don't wanna talk." Delia came up to the side of him.

"I know that you feel terrible because you have more demon in you than you want."

"So you know what's wrong with me. You got a cure Doc?"

"No. I…."

"Then leave me alone."

"Liam, you can't keep doing this to yourself. Just because something bad happens in your life, doesn't mean you should brood about it all the time."

"Why not? My father did it."

"But you're different from him."

"How Del?" Liam stopped and turned to her. "How am I different from my own father? We killed our own families. Every time we try to do something nice for everyone and the world, it always bites us in the ass. He has a demon inside of him that he's been trying to control for over a hundred years. I got a demon now too, and it's clawing at me. It's hungry for anything. I can't let you be around me if I'm like this." He turned and walked away from her. She followed him.

"Since when did you decide what I should be around and not?"

"When I found out about me."

"Hey. I'm a slayer. I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can. Just not around me."

"You know how stubborn I can be."

"Same goes for me." Liam turned and went on a path towards the cemetery. The ground was wet and mushy with mud. He didn't care. And apparently, neither did Delia.

"This is just another obstacle that we can overcome." Delia said trying to get through to him.

"No we can't."

"Yes we can if we just work together."

"There is no 'we'." Liam said turning to her. "There hasn't been a 'we' for over a year now."

"It may have been a year for you, but it's only been a month for me. I still believe in 'we'."

"Delia. You have no idea what I'm going through."

"Maybe not. But that's why I want you to talk to me. So that I can understand and help you."

"No one can help me."

"That's what you said the other times that something bad happened and no one could help you. But who did? Hunh? That's right. Me. Because I love you." She was beginning to cry. "I love so much. I want to help you through everything. I want to help make the pain go away. I was there for you when every one of your family died. I was there when you killed your sister. I was there on that street for you when you were all mad about your dad. And I want to be here for you. You just have to let me." Liam looked at her. She was crying now. Liam had rarely seen her cry. He was usually the one to do it.

"Delia. You can't help me. The best you can do for me is just leave." Delia stepped back in shock. "There's not a thing you can do for me now. So don't bother. Just leave and let me do what I have to do. I don't need some bio geek telling me how to run my life." He turned and walked away from her. She just stood there stunned at what he said to her. He hated what he just said and regretted it. But he didn't want her near him. Not when he was a pure demon now. But what he forgot in that year away from his wife, was that she was incredibly stubborn.

"How did you turn back?" She asked. Liam stopped walking and stood. "How did you turn back from being a demon to human?" Liam knew the answer. He knew where she was going. If he let her, she would never leave. He didn't want her to leave anyway.

"It was you." He said turning to her. "I recognized your face and felt a warmth that only you could give me. That's what caused me to turn back."

"And did you ever feel that warmth since you came back?" Liam looked to the ground. Delia stomped over to him "No. You didn't. You said only I could give it to you. I was there for all of your bad times. Let me be here for another one. You feel like if I'm around you and your demon gets lose, I'll get hurt. But I am what will stop your demon from running lose. And you will never be able to hurt me. Not unless you say to me right now, that you don't love me and want a divorce." Liam chuckled.

"In all fairness, it really wasn't a wedding."

"I don't care."

"I do. I wanted your dream. I wanted our dream. To retire and live in some small town and be its protectors. Raise a family. How can I do that with this thing inside of me? I can't give you what you deserve. I couldn't even give you the perfect wedding." He turned started to walk again.

"You did give me my perfect wedding." Liam stopped again. "You were there. I was there. And you professed your love for me. No, it wasn't the fairytale wedding I wanted as a child, but I don't care. All I want is you. And I don't care if you can turn into some blue monster. The only monster about you I see is the man before me trying to leave me for my own good. But you don't know what's good for me because you never asked me." Liam took in her words. She was right. His father left his mother because he feared his demon. Now Liam was doing the same thing. He knew what pain his mother went through after Angel broke up with her. He didn't want to do that to Delia. He promised himself that he never would. He looked back to her. She was crying. Even through the wet damp hair and the rain pouring down on her face, he could tell she was crying.

"How is it," he chuckled. "How is it that I married the most awesome woman in the world, and I keep on forgetting that?"

"Maybe because you're a jackass." She said smiling.

"Not just any jackass. I'm your jackass." He walked to her and she ran to him. They caught each other and they started to kiss. Liam had missed this. He dreamed of it, but this was ten times better. He missed her some much. The kiss was getting heated. They were so into it that they lost their footing and slipped on the mud. They fell over and they rolled around in the mud laughing. When they stopped, they were staring at their now muddy faces. Delia leaned down and kissed her husband again. It may have tasted like mud, but they didn't care. They broke apart and just looked at each other.

"Does this mean you're willing to talk to me?" Delia asked smiling.

"Don't need to." Liam said. Delia looked confused. "I'm over it. It may be a curse, but I got a nice consolation prize." She smiled again and kissed him.

"But if you're going to have any more of this prize, you're going to shave and cut your hair."

"Don't like it?"

"It makes you look rugged and dirty."

"In case you haven't noticed hun, we're both dirty."

"Well I can fix that." She kissed him again.

"You sure about that? Cause if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, you're more dirty than I thought." They both laughed.

…

Buffy and Angle were asleep on the couch. They had stayed up, hoping to catch their son and talk to him when he got back. But he was gone for so long, they fell asleep on the couch. The storm was calming now, but there was still some rain coming down and some thunder could be heard. It was past five in the morning when Buffy woke up. She saw the rest of the gang asleep on the floor. They all decided to stay for the night because of the storm and were in the living room. Buffy felt uncomfortable on the couch and wanted to go back to her room. She turned to Angel who was asleep next to her and shook him.

"Angel." Buffy whispered. He groaned. "Angel" she shook him and he woke up.

"What? What is it?" he groaned.

"I feel uncomfortable and want to go back to our room."

"Ok" they got up and went up the stairs. Not making a lot of noise so that the rest of the gang could sleep. As they made it to the second floor, they heard a shower running down the hall.

"Who's taking a shower at five in the morning?" Buffy asked.

"I saw everyone down stairs. Maybe it's Liam and he's taking a shower to help cool off."

"What about that Delia girl? I didn't see her downstairs."

"Maybe she's in there with him." Angel joked smiling.

"Don't even joke. He said that they were just friends. And I got the sense that he didn't really want to be around her. He was just glad that he had a friend from the future." When they got to the bathroom, the door opened and Delia walked out in a towel and stopped when she saw Buffy and Angel. The shower was still going. "Delia. You taking a shower?"

"Uh….Yeah." Delia said and laughed nervously. "I like waking up early and taking a shower before I start my day."

"And you left the shower on?" Angel asked.

"Um…just taking a break." She smiled. Then the shower turned off and her smile faded. Both Buffy and Angel raised an eyebrow.

"You know it's been so long since that's happened to me." Liam said coming out in a towel, now clean shaven and his hair cut. He froze when he saw his parents, who were standing stunned and wide eyed at the sight before them. "Uh…."

"Speaking for everyone." Buffy said and crossed her arms "Care to explain?"

"Uh….it's…a long story."

"Let me take a crack at it. You two are actually boyfriend and girlfriend and decided to have a little fun time because you were away for so long."

"You got half that right." Delia said.

"Oh. What part did I miss?" Buffy was getting a little frustrated. "Did you take separate showers or are you two not together."

"They showered together. "Angel said. "I can smell it."

"That's nasty." Delia said.

"And an invasion of privacy." Liam countered.

"Not the point here." Buffy said. "So you two aren't together."

"Not in the sense that you thought."

"Friends with benefits than?"

"No." Buffy looked surprised.

"Boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"No" Delia said. Angel eyed her hand that had the claddagh ring on it. He noticed that the heart was pointing to her wrist, which meant married.

"I think they're married Buffy." Angel said. Buffy's eyes grew wide.

"You're married?" she shouted.

"And this is what I wanted to avoid." Liam said bowing his head.

"I still don't get why you didn't tell them." Delia said.

"Because then I would have to explain what we did right before I left. And then I wished I really had died."

"What happened right before you left?" Buffy asked.

"Me and my big mouth." Liam looked to his mother. "We got married…..right…..before I left." That did it.

"YOU MARRIED HER AND TEHN JUST LEFT HER?"

"If it's worth anything, I was totally for it." Delia said.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HER. YOU LOVE HER AND THEN JUST LEAVE HER FOR THE JOB. GOD YOU'RE LIKE YOUR FATHER." Buffy's screaming was so loud, it woke everyone up and they came running into the hall from downstairs.

"What's going on?" Faith asked.

"Liam and Delia here are married and didn't tell me. And he left her right after their wedding." Everyone starred at the new couple before them. Spike eyed the towels and smelled sex on them. He grinned proudly.

"You two are married? "Xander asked. The couple nodded.

"And they took a shower together." Faith said smiling. "Nice goin'." Liam smiled a little. Buffy glared at Faith who immediately dropped her smile.

"You mean, Liam left her after their wedding?" Willow asked surprised.

"Right after their wedding." Buffy clarified.

"Ok." Liam said. "About that, with everything that was going on at the time, nobody would have wanted to stay for the reception."

"What? Did you get married during the apocalypse?" Dawn asked. Liam and Delia had sheepish looks.

"You two got married during the apocalypse." Giles asked.

"More towards the end of one." Delia said. "You know, when the world is on the brink of death."

"getting' hitched durin' and apocalypse." Spike said with a chuckle. "Bit of irony there isn't there?" Liam couldn't help but snort at the joke. Delia and Faith both hit there men the exact same way.

"Why did you two get married then?" Tara asked.

"Because I wanted to let her know how much I loved her and I gave her the claddagh ring mom wore." Liam explained. "I told her the significance of the symbols and she said, 'Let's get hitched.'"

"I didn't say it in those exact words." Delia defended herself. "But yeah."

"Ooooh. That's so romantic." Willow said. The couple smiled and blushed. Buffy still looked mad.

"How about we all get some few hours' sleep we can before tackling this issue." Giles said. "This isn't really how I wished to start my day."

"Well I can't go back to bed." Buffy said sternly. "I'm too wide awake now." She glared at her son and daughter-in-law. "I'll go make myself some breakfast." She turned and left down the hallway.

"I think it's best if we all follow Giles' plan." Angel said. Everyone nodded and turned. Spike doubled back and raised his hand for Liam to high five. Liam did proudly. Delia looked at him with a 'what the hell was that' look. Liam bowed his head. Delia turned and went to Liam's room. Liam followed.

"So how do you think your mom is going to treat us?" Delia asked grabbing some clothes from her bag.

"She's _the_ pregnant and hormonal slayer." Liam responded getting some clothes form his closet.

"We're dead." She said putting on a pair of jeans

"Big time." They both had looks of worry on their faces.

"Do you think she could at least be a little understanding?"

"Maybe. If we tell her our story and then explain to her that killing us would only prevent them from knowing how to stop the apocalypse in the future." Delia nodded and looked at him as he put on his shirt.

"You know that you weren't supposed to come here, right?" Liam stopped getting dressed and looked at her. "You were supposed to go back to when you were four and she died in that warehouse. Not when she and your father hadn't gotten back together."

"I know. I just wanted to help Connor."

"But he was fine, wasn't he?"

"No. I told you. He grew up in a hell dimension and tried to kill my dad. Sure that got along after that, but he was robbed of a childhood. Of a mother. I can give him that. I did give him that."

"From what I remember, you gave him a mother. Fine. But what about Holtz?" Liam looked at her. "You said that he came to the future and kidnapped him. How are you going to deal with him?"

"Same way I take care of everything evil. Kill him. I'm not letting my brother have the life he had."

"And what about your mother's death? Does she even know about it?"

"Yes." Delia looked surprised. "When she found out about me, I distanced myself from her. I didn't want to make memories with her and go back to find out she's still dead. I couldn't go through the heart ache again."

"That's why you didn't tell them about me?"

"Yes. Del, it was hard enough leaving you. I couldn't keep on remembering every bit of detail of our lives together. If I did, I wouldn't focus and would've tried to go back just to see you." Liam walked closer and held Delia. "I want to succeed so that we can meet and get married like we were supposed to. If that meant not thinking about you all the time, I was willing to kill myself a little."

"You always were thinking about the future."

"I think about it all the time." They hugged each other for a minute. Liam kissed the top of her head.

"So your mom will be ok with us?"

"I think so. I don't think we have anything to worry about." Liam immediately clutched his head and slumped to the floor as a memory came to him.

"Liam." Delia said and crouched down to him. Liam held his head as he saw the memory.

_Demon Liam ran into an alley where a man dragged a woman. He pulled out a knife and killed her. Demon Liam came in and attacked the man. He screamed as Liam slashed and bit him. For some reason, he was compelled to do so. After drinking the man nearly dry, he pulled away and bit his wrist. He put it to the man's mouth and he started to drink. The woman wasn't completely dead and Demon Liam went over to her and did the same thing. He left, leaving both of them in the alley as the storm came._

Liam came out of the memory and looked to his wife horrified.

"Remember when I said we have nothing to worry about." He said. She nodded. "We got a major problem."

**And what do you think? New twist. Liam has a wife that's back. He's a pure demon now. And he accidently created to more. Fighting will happen in the next chapter. Comment and Review. Stay tuned.**


	4. Reception

Chapter 4: Reception

**Chapter's finally up. I didn't forget about you guys. It was just kinda tough righting this chapter from plain scratch. I needed fill-in's. But it's her finally. Enjoy.**

Buffy was sitting in the kitchen of the mansion, angrily stabbing her eggs and taking bites. How could Liam have not mentioned that he was married? After all that they had been through as mother and son in the past year, he never once mention he was married. He talked about himself, but never about a girl named Delia. What was with that name anyway? It reminded her of Cordelia. Maybe she was her daughter? That would be weird. She was busy eating her eggs when Angel came into the kitchen and saw her angrily stabbing her food.

"Buffy." Angel said. "I think the eggs are dead."

"Doesn't hurt to double check." Buffy said not looking at him. He walked over to her.

"I know that you're upset about what Liam did, but they were separated for a long time. It's only natural for two lovers who have been separated to rekindle their relationship." He smiled at the thought of what he and Buffy did the night his souls was bound.

"You think that's why I'm upset?" Buffy looked at Angel. "I'm not upset so much that are son who we've known for a year is having sex in the shower, as I am that he never once mentioned he was married. I mean after all we've been through together, he never told us."

"I'm sure he had his reasons for not telling us. Just like he had his reasons for everything else he did."

"What are you guys talking about?" Spike asked as he and everyone else of the Scooby gang came into the kitchen to get breakfast. No one went to their own homes last night because of the storm. So they stayed and were now getting their own breakfast.

"Is Buffy still mad that Liam has a wife and got some last night?" Xander asked with a grin. Buffy shot him a dangerous look and his smile faded.

"I think it's nice that Liam has a wife." Dawn said smiling. "After everything I've heard about him and his childhood, he deserves to have some happiness."

"Especially that good lookin' of one." Faith said. "Not to mention that she totally kicked his ass last night."

"Yes." Spike deadpanned. "Because all men are lookin' for women to kick are arse's all that time." Faith smiled cheekily at him.

"I wonder how their wedding was like." Anya said. "Which reminds me…." Xander cleared his throat and gave Anya a look. She stopped talking.

"It is rather odd that Liam's wife came back just as he did." Giles stated.

"Really odd." Tara agreed. "But they do seem happy together."

"Yeah." Willow said dully. "Just happy."

"Will, you ok?" Buffy asked. Willow looked up at her.

"I brought you out of heaven Buffy." Every stopped what they were doing and stared at Willow. "Liam said I did and that's what caused you to go into a depressive state. I thought that Liam was in a hell dimension and brought him back. What if he was in heaven? He was right. I am just some first year learning amateur. I should have known about those artifacts to find his soul." Willow bowed her head and started to cry. Buffy came over and hugged her best friend.

"It's ok Will. Liam said he forgave you. He also said that you were a good person and that you heart is always in the right place." Willow looked at Buffy with tears in her eyes. "And I did go through a depressive state, I obviously came back. And I'm sure it was you that helped me through it." Willow smiled at Buffy.

"Willow." Tara said and Willow looked to her. "You are a good person. I wouldn't be with you if you weren't this made Willow smile more. She leaned over, hugged and kissed his girlfriend.

"Aww, that's sweet." Dawn said. "Just like Liam and Delia."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Buffy said grabbing her empty plate to fill it up again.

"Buffy." Angel said. "You can't be the parent that doesn't like her child's spouse."

"I'm not one of those parents. I just don't like the fact that he kept something this big from me and not to mention he left her right after they were married."

"He needed to come back. Plus he didn't plan on her saying 'let's get married'."

"I can't believe you're taking his side."

"I'm not. I'm just stating the facts."

"And the facts are he lied to us."

"He didn't lie per say."

"He omitted truth and that's as good as a lie."

"That's true." Willow agreed. Angel gave her a look.

"Look." Angel said looking back at Buffy. "All I'm saying is that you should just go and talk to Liam and work it out. After all, he did just come back from…." Angel trailed off because he didn't know what to say for Liam's absence.

"He has a wife he never told us about Angel." Buffy stated. "He has her to talk too." Just then, Liam and Delia both came rushing into the kitchen, fully clothed, and panting. Liam wore a grey long sleeve shirt, dark blue jeans, and black running shoes. Delia got out of her leather clothes and now wore jeans, a black tank top, and boots.

"Went for another round nephew?" Spike asked grinning. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Mom, we need to talk." Liam said. Buffy looked at him.

"Liam, I'm still angry and I don't wanna talk at the moment." Buffy said. "I actually wanna go out and kill something."

"Well then you're in luck." Delia said. Buffy looked at her.

"Why's that?"

"Because I sired two people last night." Liam said. Everyone in the kitchen froze, and stared at Liam. Angel looked shocked while Buffy looked horrified and stared with wide eyes.

"You sired two people?" Giles asked.

"Yeah. Memory just came back to me."

"Are you sure?" Angel asked.

"Pretty sure. I saw the demon attack a man that dragged a woman into an alley and stabbed her. I killed him and sired him. Then the woman."

"So what's the big deal?" Xander asked. "That means that you just made two new vampires. Easy kills."

"Have you ever witnessed a vampire of my caliber sire anything?" Xander thought about it before realizing he hadn't.

"You're saying that the two people will turn into what you were?" Faith asked.

"That's the theory." Delia said.

"So we got crazy vampire beasts out there?" Dawn asked.

"Not just any beast." Giles said cleaning his glasses. "If the form that Liam took on is indeed the form that the old one was before making the first vampire, then these vampires will be moderately stronger than normal."

"But they still have the same weaknesses right?" Willow asked.

"Dad, didn't you say that you could walk in sunlight in Pylea?" Liam asked.

"Yeah. "Angel answered. "But it was a different world with different laws of physics. I'm not sure if it applies here in your case."

"The sun rose like two minutes ago. I stuck my head out of a window and didn't burn up. I have a cross necklace on that doesn't sting. And I have a reflection in mirrors." The gang looked worried.

"But you're half vampire, so the weaknesses don't really apply to you." Delia said.

"Oh. Right."

"Uh….did you try all those things in vamp form?" Spike asked.

"No way." Liam looked scared. "There is no way I'm turning back into that thing."

"But what if we need some extra muscle?" Delia asked.

"Del, No. I'm not going to turn back into that thing. I don't know if I'll control it."

"You're the man." Angel said. Everyone looked to him. "When I had to turn back into that thing, Wesley told me that I'm not a demon with a man inside. I'm a man with a demon inside. The man is in control. You can do this." Liam looked to his father with a worried look on his face.

"I'm not going to try and control this thing now when we got Van-tal's out there casing havoc."

"Van-tal's?" Tara asked.

"Pylean for bloodsucker." Delia explained. "Pretty much means vampire." Tara nodded.

"Ok." Buffy said stepping forward. "What do we do?"

"You're still on maternity leave so you'll protect Dawn at the mansion at all times." Liam gave the order. "Faith, Delia, and myself will go out and search for any signs of the Van-tal's. Willow, you go online and search missing persons, mysterious disappearances, mauling's, siting's of strange beasts, anything that points to the creature I was. Dad will help you with finding it. Everyone else will gather up weapons and vamp repellents. Make sure to have a stock pile of them. Something tells me that these things won't be fazed long. Once its sundown, we'll meet back here with any information we have and split up into search parties to search the night. No one will go anywhere without a slayer or a vampire. Which means we'll go into teams of five. Dad, Spike, Faith, Delia, and I will lead groups."

"Why does she get to lead a group?" Buffy asked. Liam's eyes grew wide, knowing he never told them that Delia was a slayer. Delia looked at him with the same expression.

"Uh…." Liam scratched his head. He hadn't told her yet that Delia was a slayer. Now might be the best time he's got. "The reason that she gets to lead a group is because….she's….a slayer." He whispered the last part but Buffy heard it.

"YOU MARRIED A SLAYER!" she yelled. Spike and Xander immediately started laughing. Faith smiled and tried to control her laughter, but failed. Giles looked surprised. Dawn, Tara, and Willow all looked at the couple with bemused expressions. Angel looked at his son in shock. His own son married a slayer.

"Like father, like son hunh?" Spike said through his laughter.

"Ok." Liam said trying to control the group. "Everyone has their assignments so let's break and do it. Faith, let's go." Faith followed her nephew out, snickering at the irony. Buffy stood in shock at what she was just told. Her son married a slayer.

"Our son married a slayer." Buffy said to her husband. "Do you know what that means?"

"I think it means he followed his old man." Angel said a little proud. Buffy gave him a stern look.

…

Liam, Delia, and Faith walked to the alley where Liam sired the two people from last night. Liam had a hunch that if he could turn into that demon, he might be able to sniff others out.

"You know it is kinda funny." Faith said snickering.

"It's not funny." Liam said sternly while looking around and sniffing.

"It's pretty funny." Faith had been snickering and laughing about Liam, Angel's son and a vampire, marrying a slayer, just like his father.

"It is kinda funny if you think about it." Delia said smiling.

"Can we please just get back to work?" Liam said impatiently.

"Fine." The girls said. They all started looking around for clues. Liam sniffed the air for any trace of the people or demons. Delia and Faith looked around the alley.

"This must be where she was stabbed." Delia said crouching down. Liam and Faith walked over. Sure enough, there was a small blood stain from where the woman was stabbed and was left on the ground.

"At least you didn't take all of her blood." Faith said. Liam glared at her. He bent down and rubbed his fingers on the blood spot and sniffed his fingers. He stood up and sniffed the air.

"Anything?"

"She moved that way." Liam said pointing out of the alley.

"It looks like it's towards the woods." Faith said.

"At least it's away from the town." Delia said.

"Until night time." Liam said. "Let's go." The girls followed Liam to the woods.

…

Willow was searching on her laptop for any information on the demons that resembled Liam. Angel and Spike were busy training each other. If what Liam and Giles said were true and the demons were going to be stronger than they were, they needed to bulk up. Tara had offered to try and do a locator spell to find the demons. Giles was researching any information he could gather on the first vampire and the demon that created it. The rest of the gang gathered up weapons and assortments for tonight's patrol. Buffy however, had to sit out on anything she wanted to do because she was pregnant. The only thing she had to do was spend time with her sister. Even though they had grown closer and liked spending time with each other, they both wanted to help. Buffy now knew how Dawn felt whenever the gang did something and she wasn't allowed in.

"I really hate this." Buffy said in frustration. She and Dawn were sitting in the living room watching TV. "I can't do anything except sit around."

"Welcome to my world." Dawn said. Buffy looked at her sister.

"Once I'm back on my feet and not carrying a baby in my stomach, I'll let you help in Scooby business."

"Really?" Dawn said excitedly.

"Only when I'm not pregnant anymore."

"But you've got like four more months."

"Less than that, but yeah."

"Why can't Angel just train me or let me help?"

"Because I need company, otherwise I'll go out on my own and possibly get killed." Buffy countered smiling. Dawn pouted a little but understood. She nearly lost her last remaining family. She wasn't about to lose her again.

…

The rest of the gang was seated around the table in the kitchen looking at books, researching about Liam's demon. Angel and Spike came in from the basement.

"Spike and Angel back from a fight between each other and both are still alive." Xander stated. "What's wrong with that picture?"

"Hey, we were training." Angel said.

"Yeah, and besides, you'd know that we fought to the death because I would be dust." Spike said.

"What? You revel in fights you can't win and I go for fights that I know I can win. You could stand a chance. You might even be able to beat me." Angel smiled and playfully punched Spikes shoulder.

"Oh come off it mate. I've fought you loads of times and every time you beat me."

"Well there's a first time for everything."

"Ok enough." Buffy said walking into the kitchen with Dawn. "I don't care how long it's been for you guys, but I'm still a little freaked out when you two get along." Both vampires smiled at Buffy's uncomfortableness.

"I like it that they get along." Dawn said. "I like both of them."

"Well it's still freaky."

"Oh. Think I got something." Willow said. Everyone came around her to see what she found. "The police found four bodies on the edge of the woods earlier today. They appeared to have been mauled and drained of all their blood. They were taken to the morgue."

"That appears to be the work of our demons." Giles said.

"Did you say the woods?" Tara asked looking at Willow.

"Yeah. Why?" Willow asked.

"Because I just did a locator spell and at first, I had two dots on this map. Then four more appeared." Everyone went pale.

"They're siring their victims." Angel said.

"They're building an army." Xander said.

"Can I offer a suggestion and say, 'let's all run'?" Anya asked smiling.

"No." Buffy said. "These things are killing people and making them into their own kind. They'll be after everything that can walk and has blood."

"So what do we do?" Dawn asked.

"We'll wait for Liam and the rest to get back." Angel said. "Then work on a plan for extermination."

"Sounds like we're goin' huntin'." Spike said.

"Guys." Tara said nervously. Everyone looked to her. "The dots moved from the morgue and the hospital and are heading to the woods. But that's not what we should be worried about."

"Then what is?"

"More dots appeared." Everyone now looked worried.

…

Faith and Delia were following Liam who followed the trail of the woman's blood into the woods. Faith and Delia were a little ways behind Liam. Liam bent down to examine something.

"What'd you find?" Faith asked. Liam held up and woman's shoe. It was dirty and bent in a wrong way. "You think it belonged to the woman from the alley?"

"It has her scent on it." Liam said. "She diffidently headed this way."

"I think she may have already turned." Delia said. Faith and Liam looked at her. "Hey, I know women's shoes, and no one's shoe is bent like that unless it was forced. I mean really forced. Like something big and mean wanted to get out of it."

"She's right." Liam stood up. "This thing's already turned. Which means we gotta find them faster and kill them before they take anyone else's life. Or worse." He headed off in a direction and Faith and Delia followed behind a little ways. Liam bent down again and came up with a black skirt that the woman wore. "We're on the right path." He dropped the skirt and continued on.

"So what's it like?" Faith asked Delia. Delia looked confused. "Being married to him. The now super vamp." Faith smiled.

"To be honest, I don't know." Delia answered. "When we got married, it was right before he left. He's been here for a year. I came back a month after he left. The only time we've spent together was…." She trailed off and blushed because Faith knew what moments they had. Faith smiled.

"But I bet it's a lot more interesting with him being all grrr."

"Well, it is different. We were together for like five years before he proposed to me. So I know what he was like before."

"Five years? You guys remind me of Buffy and Angel the more I get to know you."

"So people keep on telling us. Everywhere we turned it was, 'Hey, it's Angel and Buffy: The Next Generation' and crap like that. I just want us to be….us."

"You and me both, honey." Liam called back. He could hear their entire conversation because of his super hearing. "The trails getting stronger. This way." He jogged a little bit up a hill. Faith and Delia followed. When they got to the top of the hill, Liam stopped and started looking around.

"What is it?" Delia asked.

"The trail ends here. But nothings here."

"I wouldn't say nothing." Faith said. Liam and Delia turned to Faith and saw what she was looking at. Liam smelled it. There in the trees, stood the Van-tal that Liam had turned into. It was the woman that Liam sired the night before. There was practically, no clothes on her. The only article of clothing, seemed to be its torn blouse. "Man that's ugly." Faith wiped out a stake. The beast attacked and lunged at Faith, getting her on the ground. Delia made for her broadsword, but remembered that she left it at the mansion because it wasn't normal for a girl to have a sword out in the open in this time.

"Crap." Delia said. "I don't have my sword."

"Well." Liam said reaching for his axe and knife, but felt nothing. He didn't ask his parents if they had his weapons. "I don't have my effects either."

"So what now?"

"Uh Hello!" Faith said grappling with the Van-tal. "Little help here!" Delia and Liam nodded and each went for a low hanging branch on a tree. Delia made two makeshift stakes out of it. Liam made himself a staff. They attacked the demon on Faith and knocked it off. They all stood ready for a fight. The Van-tal snarled at them and lunged. Liam managed to hit it and got it disoriented. Delia went to stab it but it knocked her away. Faith went after it and managed to stab the beast. But missed the heart by inches. "Crap." The beast growled and threw her against a tree trunk. She slid down in a slump. She groaned in pain. Liam attacked the beast with his staff and got a few hits. But the demon put up a fight. Liam twirled the staff and stabbed the demon. The demon broke the staff and pulled out the part that was in its chest. It started to use the stake to stab at Liam. Liam dodge every blow and got in a few punches. The demon swiped and knocked Liam down. Delia came over and got on the demons back. They grappled. The Van-tal caught hold of Delia and threw her off. Before Delia could get up, the demon pinned her down and went to bite her.

"NO!" Liam shouted and tackled the demon. He got up and started punching and kicking the demon everywhere he could get. The demon wasn't happy about it. It started fighting more viciously. It scraped Liam across the chest, ripping his shirt and making claw marks that bled. Liam wasn't fazed. He continued to fight on. Delia went to check on Faith who was slowly getting up. They say Liam fighting the demon and backing it up into a sunlit clearing. Liam's eyes glowed yellow as he fought. His grunts started to sound more like growls. They got into the clearing and fought. The demon started getting the upper hand. It hit Liam in the stomach and elbowed him in the back, sending him to the ground. Faith and Delia showed up but did nothing as Liam got up and started fighting again. Both the demon and Liam were getting angrier as the fight went on. Liam backhanded the demon and it went down. It got back up and swiped at Liam. It got him in the face and he went down. The demon went for him but stopped and started roaring out in pain. It started to smoke and tried to bloke the rays of sunlight that were coming down.

"Keep it in the sunlight." Liam ordered. The Van-tal tried to get into the shade but Faith kicked it back into the sunlight. It started to flame up. It tried again but Delia punched it. Liam then swiped its feet and it went down and was suddenly engulfed in flames. It roared in pain a few more seconds before burning to dust. All of them stared at the sight that they just saw. The demon was in sunlight and didn't burn. Then it suddenly caught on fire. What was up with that?

"What just happened?" Delia asked.

"I think it burned up in sunlight." Faith answered.

"But how? I mean it was in sunlight, not burning up just a few minutes ago."

"It tapped into the demon." Liam said. "It was battling me and it couldn't win. It tapped into the demon within for strength and power. Didn't count on the sun to burn it up." Liam looked towards the sun and shielded himself with his hand. "My guess is that the other one will do the same and probably burn up as well. Unless they found adequate cover."

"So this is good right?" Faith asked. "Now we have an advantage over the other one. We could go back to the mansion and have Willow do some locator spell to find the other one and weed him out."

"Sounds like a good plan." Delia said. "Plus I need to get my broadsword anyway."

"Alright." Liam said. "We'll head back and tell the gang our findings." They all turned and headed back to the mansion to tell the rest of the gang about their encounter with one of the demons.

…

The rest of the gang was preparing for battle. With every dot that appeared on the map Tara had, two more would follow. These demons were making a pack and then going into the woods to regroup. Tonight, they would have an 'all you can eat buffet'.

"This isn't going to be easy." Xander said picking up a crossbow.

"Not as easy as it used to be." Buffy said sitting on the couch next to Dawn. Sundown was going to happen in about two hours and Liam, Delia, and Faith weren't back yet.

"Don't worry." Spike said. "You'll find a way out of this. You heroes always do."

"Don't you mean, 'we' heroes." Angel said examining an axe.

"Hey, I'm no hero."

"Says the vamp without a soul that helped us during our fight with Glory." Buffy said smiling. Spike opened his mouth to retort but closed it knowing why he actually did what he did and why he was still helping now. Faith. He loved her and wanted to be with her. And that meant being the good guy. He wanted to be bad, but something in him told him not too.

"So when are we going to do this?" Willow asked nervously.

"When the rest get back, I don't know what's keeping them?" Just then, the door opened and the three came strolling in. Buffy saw Liam's torn shirt and the bruises they had. "What happened?" She said getting up. Angel got up too and went to check on Liam.

"We found the girl." Faith said. "Bitch was a bitch."

"I'm fine dad." Liam said as Angel inspected him. "I just need a new shirt. But we do have an advantage over these guys"

"What's that?" Giles asked.

"They're allergic to sunlight." Delia said. "Originally they weren't but once they tapped into the inner demon, they were Bar-B-Que."

"Don't get me hungry." Liam said.

"So what now?" Anya asked.

"Wait until sundown so that we have Spike and Angel with us. We'll need them. Then we'll split up into teams and search for the last demon."

"Uh….there's more now." Tara said. Liam looked shocked. "They made four more vampires and then more started popping up with them."

"Shit just got worse." Delia said.

"No shit." Liam said. "Ok. No one goes anywhere without a slayer or a vampire. Angel and Xander are in one group."

"Why do I have to be with him?" Xander retorted.

"Yeah. I'm more of a solo act." Angel said.

"You go with the person I tell you to go with. This is not up for discussion." Liam said forcefully. Xander and Angel shut up. "Spike and Giles are another team, and don't argue." Both Spike and Giles were about to argue but closed their mouths when Liam spoke up. "Anya and Faith together. Tara and Delia are a couple. And that leaves Willow with me. Slayers and vampires have axes and broadswords for slashing and fighting. The others have crossbows for distant shooting. If you come across a nest of them, run and yell for help. The nearest one of us will come to help."

"I can hook us up on a telepathic communication." Willow suggested.

"No. No magic."

"Why not?"

"Personal reasons." Liam glared at Willow who bowed her head. "Everyone should also have flammable substances with them to create fire. These things will likely not like fire. We have our plan and we'll be ready to go at sundown. We're on the hunt people."

…

Sundown came and the gang was out the door the minute it was dark. Buffy stayed behind with Dawn, much to both of their annoyance. Buffy wanted to go out and slay but she also didn't want to put the baby at risk. Dawn wanted to go out to be a part of the gang. But she had Buffy so she couldn't really complain all that much.

"So what do you wanna do tonight?" Dawn asked her sister. "We can watch a movie of your liking. Or maybe order take out."

"Dawn. We've been doing those things for the past four months." Buffy said. "While I enjoy spending time with you now, I seriously don't want to do those things again."

"Then what?"

"I don't know." Buffy slumped on the couch. "I hate that I can't do anything I want to do."

"How about we go to the Bronze. I liked going there."

"Nobody can party at the Bronze pregnant, Dawn."

"Go shopping."

"Some of the stores will be closed and we aren't allowed out of the mansion." Dawn slumped on the couch with her sister.

"Alright. This sucks."

…

All of the gang split up into their groups for their patrols in the woods. Angel and Xander were walking together.

"So you're letting your son give the orders and you're buddy buddies with Spike." Xander said walking.

"What's your point?" Angel asked.

"Nothing. Except, what happened to you man? Before you would beat Spike up just for being in the same room."

"Well Liam said that we get along in the future and we started to after Drusilla came to town."

"And then?"

"And then Liam sacrificed himself and we wanted to honor him for everything he did for us. So we started hanging out and we've been trying 'hard' not to insult one another, and it worked. Surprisingly."

"That's just too weird."

"It's weird for the both of us. But we owed it to Liam. And now that he's back, what else is there to do. To be honest, Spike and I actually, tolerate one another."

"Really weird. And speaking of sons, let's say that your son loses his soul and becomes this monster thing we're trying to find."

"He won't lose his soul. He doesn't have the same curse I did."

"But say he does become evil."

"I'll help him become good again."

"What if you can't?"

"Without me, Liam won't exist. Kill me, he goes too."

"Glad to know you have a contingency plan."

"It's last resort and we'll never use it."

"Why?"

"Because he won't be evil."

…

Spike and Giles were walking in a direction.

"Is it just me, or does Buffy not like her daughter in law?" Spike asked the Watcher.

"Well, Liam never really mentioned her." Giles answered. "With how close they both got over last year, Buffy might feel a little betrayal because Liam didn't tell her a very important detail of his life."

"But he never usually told us anything unless he needed to."

"I agree. However, Buffy is his mother. They should have a bond that is stronger and well more respected than anyone else's."

"Except his wife."

"Well, yes." Spike laughed.

"Can you believe it? The poof's son actually married a slayer. I wonder what mummy issues he's got?"

"Spike. I don't believe that Liam has any mother issues aside from her death."

"Exactly. She wasn't around, so he finds himself a slayer to fill the spot."

"I don't think that was Liam's intention."

"Maybe not to him at first."

"Spike, why don't you focus on you finding yourself a girlfriend instead of plucking your nose into others relationships?" Spike stopped as the watcher went on, and frowned.

"I already got a girl." Spike muttered.

…

Anya and Faith were walking

"It must be nice." Anya said. Faith looked at her.

"What is?"

"To have someone. A husband. A wife. You know?"

"No. Not really." Faith frowned. She wasn't totally sure why she and Spike had kept their relationship a secret. They might be given disgusted looks and be shunned for it. But if they explained that Liam showed them the memories he had of each other, maybe they would accept them.

"What do you think of the idea?"

"I'm not that into the whole long lasting relationship." Faith lied.

"Maybe because you just use all guys that you meet. Like Xander." Faith laughed.

"Yeah. I got there before you did."

"He's mine."

"I know. I'm not after Xander."

"How do I know for sure? You used to trick people a lot. You could be doing it to me right now."

"Man you are crazy."

…

Tara and Delia were walking. They hadn't really said much along the walk. They hadn't really said anything at all. Delia was the one to break the silence.

"So you're with Willow now?" she asked looking at Tara, trying to make small talk. Tara nodded. "That's cool."

"Do you….do you know us?" Tara stuttered. "I-I-In the future?"

"Not really. I heard a lot about Willow, but I never really met her."

"Oh." They walked for a bit more, not saying a word. "But you hung out with Liam?"

"Yeah. Most of his family was either dead or out trying to save the world. It's actually nice to meet his family for once. But I get the sense that his mother doesn't like me."

"She just doesn't like the fact Liam didn't tell her about you."

"The only reason he didn't was because if he did, he would miss me like crazy and try to go back to the hell we both came from. Sweet if you think about it."

"Why didn't both of you come back together then?"

"Because we had to make it look like we were still fighting and not draw attention to the plans we had."

"Guess that didn't really work out."

"How's that?"

"Well, some of Liam's enemies came back from the future and tried to kill us."

"Oh. Guess we didn't."

"But Liam killed them all. So you guys are safe for now."

"Yeah. I guess." They continued to walk.

…

Willow and Liam were walking together. Liam led as he sniffed the air. They hadn't spoken a word since they left the mansion. Liam was on the hunt and didn't want to be disturbed. Willow disturbed him anyway.

"Maybe I could do a spell to find them." She suggested.

"No." is what Liam only said. He continued to track.

"Well it would help us find them faster."

"No."

"But maybe…"

"Willow!" Liam turned to her. Willow looked sad. It seemed no matter how much she wanted to help, she always made him mad. He sighed. "Willow, I know you want to help with your magic because it's who you are now," he took a few steps forward so he was right in front of her. "But let me try to avoid an apocalypse right her, right now." Willow looked at him. "You told me this story when I was studying magic. You turned evil and tried to destroy the world." Willow looked shocked.

"What? No. No. I would never do that."

"Revenge makes us do things we never wanted to do."

"Revenge?"

"Tara." Willow now looked horrified. "You started abusing magic a lot after you brought back mom. You thought that because you could pull off really powerful spells, you could do anything. You started abusing your magic and using it for everything. Summon a pencil that's two feet from you, open and close drapes, make a party appear out of thin air. You were so into magic, that without it, you feared you would go back to how you were before. A high school outcast." Willow was shocked. Liam was describing how she felt. He knew. Before she even did. "That's one of the reasons you used magic a lot. The other is because you were growing so powerful so fast, you thought you could be god. But Tara said that your abuse of it would be bad for everyone. You fought and started erasing the fights from her memories so that you could go back to how things were before. She later found out and threatened to leave you if you did anymore magic. You said you wouldn't but it was also around the time you found out why mom was depressed and that you tore her out of heaven. You used magic to erase the events from both their minds but it backfired. Tara left you after that." Willow was on the verge of tears. "You then got addicted to dark magic and abused that too. You put Dawn in the hospital."

"Oh my god." Willow was crying now.

"But you got smart and cut yourself off from magic. Tara came back after that but she was killed soon after. In grief and anger, you absorbed all the dark magic you could find to kill her killer. Then you went after anyone that was directly or indirectly involved. You grew so powerful, so dangerous, you absorbed so much magic that you felt the world's pain and tried to save it, by ending the world." Willow was crying, and shaking her head at the thought. "However, Xander saved you by being him."

"Xander?"

"Yeah. Just by talking to you. Giles took you to England so that a coven of witches could help you control your magic. You came back before you could finish because things were happening in Sunnydale. You were scared of your power but managed to control it to a point that you did become a goddess to most people. But you didn't let that affect you." Willow was crying hysterically.

"How…how could I do those things?"

"Willow" Liam grabbed her shoulder. "I'm not telling you to hurt you. I'm telling you to help you. I see the way you look at Tara. I never saw it with anyone else in my time. You had a loving look to your daughter but you didn't have anybody with you."

"I…I have a daughter?" She sniffled.

"Yes. A powerful and quite attractive daughter. You got a donation and had a child. But you never love another. Not since Tara. You tried but it didn't really work out. I've been fighting with myself for the past year about whether or not I should tell you. I don't know if it'll affect my time in a big or small way. The important part of it is you going to England and controlling your power. And that's what I want you to do." Willow looked down then back up.

"What happened…..to Tara's killer?" She wiped some tears away. Liam stood holding her then enveloped her in a hug.

"It doesn't matter now. You leave him to me. Just focus on you and Tara ok?"

"Ok" she cried into his chest.

"Willow I love you. I can never stay mad at my family. I came back to help and that's what I'm doing." They pulled away and looked at each other. "But I need your help Willow. For right now, you need to control your magic by yourself for the time being."

"Why?"

"Because a new threat's rising and I'm going to need you."

"What about now?" She looked past him and Liam sensed it. He whipped around and saw three of the Van-tal's they were looking for.

"No would be good." The Van-tal's attacked.

…

Buffy and Dawn were sitting around the living room of the mansion, trying to find something to entertain themselves. Dawn was flipping through the television while Buffy was flipping through a magazine she already read.

"Ok." Buffy said throwing the magazine on the table. "It's official. I hate being pregnant."

"But you love all of the things that Angel does to pamper you right?" Dawn said smiling.

"Not anymore." Dawn looked to her sister. "I mean, it was nice at first, but now I can't stand it. I don't like to be treated like some priceless glass jewel. I wanna fight. I wanna do the things I could do before I was pregnant."

"But you're going to have a baby. You love that right."

"Yeah." Buffy said smiling. "It's great. Connor will be hear soon. Angel and I get to have a family together. And you get to be an aunt. It's great." Buffy had the occasional mood swings that just irritated the hell out of everyone. Then they heard growls and looked to the garden entrance. Through the glass, they saw a couple of Van-tals outside looking in.

"Buffy."

"Yeah."

"Can we go outside and run?"

"Yeah." They got up immediately and ran out the front door. The Van-tals ran through the garden doors, breaking them, and went after the girls. "We need to find the rest."

"How?"

"I don't know. Just run." They kept running as the Van-tals followed.

…

Liam blocked an attack form one Van-tal and got hit by another. Willow shot an arrow but missed. A Van-tal went after her. She held up her arm and a barrier appeared between her and the Van-tal. It crashed into it and stumbled back. Liam was struggling with one of the Van-tals as the other one maneuvered silently around Willow who was busy keeping the barrier up between her and a Van-tal. Liam got his feet on his Van-tals chest and kicked him back. He saw Willow and her van-tal and the third Van-tal directly behind her.

"Willow behind you." Liam shouted. Willow looked back, just in time to make a second barrier to protect her from the third Van-tal. Liam got up and tackled one to the ground. "Will, call in support." He grappled with his Van-tal. Willow sent out a telepathic call to everyone.

"Guys. Liam and I need support." Willow said telepathically

…

"Where are you?" Angel asked. He heard growling off in the distance.

"_Follow the sound of the growls. I'll let you all know when you're close."_

…

"How's Liam doing?" Delia asked concerned.

"_He needs help now. We're out numbered three to one."_

"What about you?" Tara asked.

"_Could really use some help baby."_

…

"We'll be there as soon as possible." Giles said. He and Spike were already running towards the fight.

…

"Just save some for us." Faith said, also running.

…

"Willow." Buffy said. "We need your help too. Dawn and I were attacked. Help us find you."

"_I'll help you all. Just find us."_

…

Liam was busy battling two Van-tals but it seemed to be a stalemate.

"There on their way." Willow said.

"How long?" Liam gasped as one Van-tal grabbed his throat and slammed him against tree trunk.

"Delia and Tara are closest. They'll be here in about five minutes." Liam grabbed a Van-tal by the mouth as it tried to bite him.

"Bullshit. Nothing takes five minute." He threw the Van-tal against a tree and engaged the other Van-tal.

…

Buffy and Dawn were running as fast as they could. This was not good for the baby. The Van-tals were gaining on them. Dawn looked back and saw one get so close to swipe her. It missed but Dawn let out a scream.

Angel was running when he heard Dawn scream.

"Dawn." He said. He turned to the direction of the scream with Xander behind him. He saw Buffy and Dawn running and two Van-tals behind them. Angel vamped out and tackled the one closets to the girls to the ground he got up and tackled the other one. Xander caught up to the girls whom stopped and saw Angel fight two van-tals.

"Angel." Buffy said and made to go to him, but Xander stopped her.

"He can take care of himself." He said. "We need to get to Willow."

"But…"

"Now Buffy." He grabbed Dawn's hand and started to run. Buffy looked back at her husband before following. She didn't want to leave him, but she didn't want the baby at risk.

…

Liam was wrestling with two Van-tals at once, while Willow still had the barrier between her and her Van-tal. It kept bashing into it. Willow could feel the barrier breaking. She needed support now. Liam was pinned on the ground when a force slammed against the two Van-tals, sending them flying. Liam looked up at the sight of his wife. He smiled in delight. Willows barrier broke but the Van-tal went flying like its brothers and Willow saw Tara running with her hand up. Willow smiled too.

"While you were off with your bridesmaids," Liam said getting up and joining his wife. "I was keeping our guests entertained."

"How nice of you honey." Delia said. "But it's time to move to the reception." She took out her broadsword.

"Save me a piece of cake." The Van-tals lunged and Liam and Delia fought alongside each other. Delia slashed and got a few hit marks. Liam swung his axe and got it imbedded in one of the Van-tals chests. It roared in pain before Liam took it out and swung, cutting off its head and turning it to dust. "Got one."

"Two more." The Van-tal's weren't letting up. One attacked Delia and she swung and got it in the chest. She then kicked it away. It landed close to Willow and Tara who were helping each other up. They saw the Van-tal and looked scared. The demon attacked but it was thrown off guard by Spike lunging at it. Giles came up, huffing and puffing from trying to keep up with Spike. Spike grappled with his Van-tal as Faith and Anya arrived, along with Xander and Dawn and Buffy. Faith joined Spike in his fight with the demon. She kicked it off of him and swung her axe, imbedding it in the shoulder. It screamed in pain before Spike swung his axe, and cut off the head. Delia and Liam's van-tal put up quite a fight. This must have been the male that Liam sired. Liam swung but missed and the Van-tal hit him, sending him flying. Delia swung her sword but the Van-tal dodged and hit her in the head, knocking her unconscious.

"Delia!" Liam screamed. The Van-tal grabbed Delia and ran off with her. Anger flashed through Liam's eyes as the Van-tal ran away. He grabbed Delia's discarded broadsword and went after it. The rest of the group, minus Angel, gathered together,

"Is everyone alright?" Buffy asked.

"I think so." Willow said. "Glad you guys could make it."

"Wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world, Red." Spike said, smiling. "I actually enjoyed that brawl."

"Hey, without me, you wouldn't even had been able to take that thing." Faith said.

"I had him, right where I wanted him."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself."

"Guys, we need to help Angel and Liam." Buffy said.

"Where is Angel?" Giles asked.

"Back that way." Xander said pointing in the direction they just came from. "He took on two of those things as we made our escape."

"Then he's dead." Anya said bluntly. Everyone looked at her. "I'm not saying it's a good thing, I'm just saying that it's a high possibility."

"He's not dead." Buffy said sternly. "He'll b…." she was cut off as they heard a loud echoing roar and then silence. They stood there like that for a minute waiting for something to happen.

"What was that?" Dawn asked.

"Maybe one of those things calling for the pack." Faith said.

"Or maybe Liam killed his and it roared in defeat." Xander suggested. Then they heard a rumble and looked behind them. A group of Van-tals were heading there way. It looked to be everyone that they were looking for. They all stood ready for the onslaught, but the Van-tals moved around them, not giving a bit of attention to them. The pack headed in the direction of where Liam followed the Van-tal with Delia.

"Well. That was plain rude." Spike said.

"They went off to where Liam went." Buffy said.

"Buffy." She heard a voice from behind her. She turned and her heart leaped when she saw Angel, who was supporting a few bruises and cuts, coming towards her.

"Angel." She went and hugged her husband. "I'm glad you're ok."

"I'm glad you're ok too. I was fighting them and then I heard a roar and they just took off."

"We saw them too. They went in the direction that Liam went."

"We need to help him." They all gathered up and went in the direction that Liam and the pack went. They probably jogged a good five minutes before Angel stopped them, picking something up off the ground. "It's Liam's coat." They all looked at the coat that they all knew Liam wore constantly. They all ran again heading towards the direction that Liam had headed. They heard the grunts and roars and growls of Van-tals up ahead. They ran faster so that they could help. Before they got to the fight, there was an explosion of energy that sent them all falling onto their backs.

…

Liam ran as hard as he could, following the Van-tal that had his new bride. Liam was steadily keeping up, but his coat was acting as a parachute for him. He took off the coat and kept running, now running faster. His rage for the Van-tal that touched his wife, burning through him. Liam stopped and threw Delia's broadsword at the demon and got it in the back. It went down, letting go of Delia. Liam rushed forward and tackled the Van-tal, pulling out the sword and getting ready for a fight. Delia laid motionless on the ground. The demon attacked and Liam slashed at it with his sword and chopped at it with his axe. The Van-tal roared in pain and got back up. Liam swung the axe, but the demon caught it and broke it in two. It hit Liam with the blade part and sent with into a tree. Liam supported a nasty gash on his side. The Van-tal dropped the axe and lunged forward at Liam. Liam got himself up and swung the sword, but the Van-tal dodged it and knocked it out of his hand. It hit Liam again and again, knocking him to the ground. It picked him up and threw him against another tree. The force was so strong, it could kill a normal being. But Liam steadily dragged himself up. The demon came forward and Liam sent a furry of fists and kicks in the direction of the Van-tal. Liam got a few well place hits, but the van-tal was still standing. The Van-tal swiped and slashed, getting Liam in a few places. Liam was getting angrier. His eyes flashed yellow as he fought back the Van-tal. The Van-tal slashed and knocked Liam to the ground. It was about to bend down to bite him but roared when Delia came up and slashed at it with her sword. It turned on her. She was still a little disoriented from being knocked unconscious. The Van-tal slashed at her. She kept her own, but if something or someone didn't help her, she would be done with. It slashed and swiped and got Delia across the face, sending her down. She looked up at the demon that bent down to bite her. She closed her eyes.

"NO!" Liam shouted and ripped his shirt off as his scream turned into a roar and his whole body morphed into a version of the demon, except he had yellow eyes instead of red. The Van-tal over Delia turned to Liam and snarled. Liam lunged forward and slammed the demon against the trunk of tree. He roared into its face and hit it, sending it to the ground. The two demons fought each other like rapid wolves. They rolled on the ground, snarling, clawing, biting, and growling at each other for dominance. Delia stood herself up as she witnessed the fighting. The Van-tal threw Liam against a tree and grabbed the discarded broken axe blade and embedded it into Liam's chest. Liam roared in pain and slumped to the ground. Delia gasped. The Van-tal rounded on her and started over. Liam saw this and tore the axe blade out of his chest and lunged forward. He grabbed the Van-tal from behind and grappled with it. He clawed and bit it, disorienting it. Then he managed to get a good hold around the neck, squeezed, and pulled. It roared in pain and Liam roared for strength. Then he tore the head off and the Van-tal crumbled to dust. Liam stood upright breathing heavily. Delia looked at the demon version of her husband.

"Liam." She said. Liam looked at her with piercing yellow eyes. Delia took a step back in fear. Liam let out an ear deafening roar that echoed around. Delia looked at the beast as it turned back into Liam. Liam slumped to the ground, panting. Delia rushed over to his side. "Are you ok?"

"I...I hate being that." He panted.

"If it wasn't for you turning into that thing, I may be dead."

"It was because of you possibly dying that made me change." Liam looked at her.

"And you came back." Delia smiled.

"I had someone to come back to." She helped him up.

"You sure you'll be alright?"

"Yeah. I think I got a control over the demon in me now."

"You were willing to turn into that thing for me?"

"I'm willing to do anything for you."

"Your father told you." She sang teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save it for someone who cares." They looked at each other before enveloping themselves in a hug. "I'm glad you're safe."

"I'm glad you're not a monster. Otherwise I would have to slay you."

"One hell of a marriage." They both laughed. Delia pulled away and found her discarded broadsword and scooped it up.

"Hey. I remember that. I gave it to you for your birthday."

"And I loved it."

"It took me three months just to make it." Delia examined her sword. It was big enough for her to do some serious damage, but small enough to put over her back and not have it be too bulky. It was double edged with a small hilt. The hilt itself, was etched with Irish runes. Liam put a lot of himself into it. His heritage, his blood, his sweat. All for her gift.

"I really do love it." Delia said as she sheathed the sword and kissed her husband on the mouth. He kissed back passion. God he missed her. Liam pulled away and started sniffing the air. "What is it?"

"The rest are coming."

"The rest? You mean the entire pack?"

"Yeah. We need to finish this."

"What's the plan?"

"Draw them in and ambush them. With our combined powers, we might come out on top."

"Alright let's do it." Delia started walking to where the Van-tals would be coming from.

"Whoa. Where you going?" Delia stopped and turned.

"I'm going to draw them in."

"The hell you are. I'm not going to use you as bait."

"Look. You may be my husband, but I'm still the slayer and able to handle myself in bait situations."

"This is different. You're facing a threat that we never fought before."

"I can hold my own."

"No. I forbid…" he didn't finish as they heard growling coming from around them. They both turned seeing the entire pack of Van-tals surrounding them like wolves after prey. They all looked mean and hungry. The couple was now back to back. "Remind you of anything?"

"Paris."

"Paris."

"If we get out of this, you are so taking me on a non-slaying honeymoon."

"First, may I have this dance?" Liam held out is hand and Delia placed a stake in it.

"Don't trip" she pulled out her sword and Liam morphed. The Van-tals attacked. Delia swung and Liam slashed and stabbed. They got three Van-tals together on the first blow. Liam bashed in a few heads and sent them flying. Delia delivered a few well-placed kicks to some and cut the head off another. She stabbed one coming after her and pulled her sword up, cutting the upper torso in half. She sliced then head off of two more at once and kicked another into three more. Liam stabbed and ripped heads everywhere he turned. He was in complete control of his demon and his human senses. The couple fought off Van-tals like they were nothing. They were in total synchronization with each other. Liam ripped the head off on and stabbed another in the heart. This was diffidently going to take forever. Liam threw his stake and got tow in the heart at once. He morphed back and punched another one as he got an idea. He started gathering his energy that he could muster in a spell that Danni had taught him. A ball of energy was now held in his hands.

"Del, get down!" Delia did as she was told and Liam used her as a step and jumped into the air as five Van-tals lunged at the same time. Liam released the spell and a massive shockwave of energy blasted out, turning all of the Van-tals to dust and bending a number of trees in an outward direction from where the couple was. Liam fell down onto Delia and didn't move. Delia go up out from under him.

"I think you should lead with that next time." She looked to her husband who didn't seem to be moving. "Liam?" She shook him but got no response. "Liam." Still nothing. She heard footsteps behind her and saw the rest of the gang coming towards them with Angel and Buffy leading them. The couple saw the motionless Liam and went to his side.

"Liam." Buffy said trying to wake him, but got nothing.

"What happened?" Angel demanded.

"He gathered up energy and released it in some sort of spell blast." Delia tried to explain.

"Did it kill him?" Buffy asked frantically.

"I…I don't…." Buffy looked like she was on the verge of tears. Liam couldn't die again. She couldn't go through with it again. The rest of the gang gathered around, hoping that what they all thought wasn't true. Buffy looked at her son with tears forming. Angel hugged her. Delia looked at Liam and bowed her head. She didn't want him to die. She gathered up some strength and slammed a fist down onto Liam's chest, waking him up and groaning in pain. Buffy looked shocked but relieved. As did the rest of the gang.

"Ow. What the hell?" Liam gasped as he clutched his chest.

"I didn't want you to die." Delia said laughing a little and hugging him. Liam groaned. "Sorry." She said pulling away.

"It's ok. It's the good kinda pain." They both laughed and kissed each other. Everyone watched. Buffy cleared her throat. The coupled pulled apart and looked at them. "Hey mom. Hey dad." Delia helped Liam sit up.

"You ok?" Angel asked checking for injuries.

"Just drained from that spell."

"What spell was that?" Willow asked. Liam sent her a look. She shut up.

"You took out all those demons?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah." Liam answered as Delia helped him up and supported him. "Nifty spell I got from a friend."

"Why couldn't you use it before to save us all this trouble?" Xander asked irritated.

"To use it, you needed a lot of energy. And some of it comes from you. It could kill you."

"Then why'd you use it?" Buffy asked.

"Risked it." Liam laughed. Delia smiled. Buffy hit her son in the shoulder. "Ow."

"Don't you dare scare me like that again."

"Ok. Sorry."

"I think it's about that time we reconvene at our own homes and rest after tonight." Giles suggested. Everyone agreed. They all started walking out of the woods. Angel drape Liam's coat over him to keep him warm and wrapped his other arm around himself to help carry him.

"So what really happened?" Angel asked his son.

"Tell ya' tomorrow." Liam replied.

…

The next morning, Liam and Delia were sitting on one side of the table of the mansion as Angel and Buffy sat on the other side. They had just finished explaining what had happened last night and what Liam did. The parents were stunned at first. Angel then turned to being proud for his son that overcame the demon with in.

"That's great Liam." Buffy said. "Now you don't have a demon clawing at you anymore."

"No." Liam said. "I have total control. You won't see me turn into it too often though. But I got a firm grasp on him."

"That's my man." Delia said squeezing his hand. Liam smiled.

"That's my son." Angel said proudly.

"Ok." Buffy said. "I just gotta ask and get it over with. Why didn't you tell me about Delia before? After everything that's happened, why not tell me you have a wife?"

"Because if I did, then I would miss her like crazy and want to go back to her." Liam explained. "By not remembering her, every second of everyday, killed me inside. But I had to so that I could focus on the important issue of saving the future so that we could get married properly." Buffy took in his words and mold them around in her head a little bit.

"Ok. I understand. And I am totally ok with it."

"You are?" Delia and Liam asked.

"Yes. I saw how caring you are of each other and I've only seen something like that between me and Angel." She smiled and Angel wrapped an arm around her. "I think you, Delia, are excellent for my son. Not just because you're slayer and can put him in his place," Delia laughed. Liam looked offended. "But also because you gave him happiness when he hadn't had any in a long time." Delia smiled. "You two seem very happy together, and after everything I've heard about Liam's past, he deserves someone like you." Delia squealed and got up to hug Buffy. The girls hugged smiling. They let go. "But let me know now if you have any children."

"No. No children." Liam said and turned to Delia. "No children right?" Delia's smile faded.

"Oh….um…..this may not be the perfect time." Everyone in the room had faces of shock. Delia smiled again and laughed. "I'm kidding. I'm just so happy." She went over to a relieved Liam and hugged him. He laughed too.

"I like her." They heard a voice form the entrance and saw Faith and Spike standing there. "She's got spunk." Spike said.

"Glad to have you on the team, Del." Faith said and they both turned towards the living room. Buffy scoffed and rolled her eyes. Angel smiled.

"Oh, that reminds me." Delia said and looked to her husband. "You owe me a honeymoon."

"Well, I'm free." Liam said. "Where do you wanna go?"

"The beach. I don't think there are any demon beach monsters so that's where we will have no slaying best."

"Good call." Buffy commented. Liam looked to his parents

"I know you guys just got me back, but since we haven't had our honeymoon…."

"You get one week." Angel said. "Then you gotta come back and tell us what's next."

"Deal." Liam turned to Delia. "Why don't you go get ready to go and I'll be there soon."

"Ok." Delia said and kissed him before going upstairs. Liam turned back to his parents.

"Thanks guys. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"It's the least we can do." Angel said.

"Yes." Buffy said standing up and walking to her son. "And I believe I never got a chance to do this." She hugged her son tightly. She never really got a chance to do this since he came back. "I'm glad you're alive." She said and shed a tear.

"We all are." Angel said coming over and hugging his wife and two sons. "We're glad you're back."

"Back and better than ever." Liam said. "Sort of." They all laughed. The family was back together. And with the help of the new slayer on the team they'll be ready for anything that comes at them. Or so maybe they think.

**Ok. Finally got this chapter done. It was a tough hone to right because I needed fill in's, otherwise it would have been really short. Sorry that it might be long. Tell me what you think of Delia and Liam being a Van-tal.** **Next chapter will have Deliam moments on their honeymoon and canon with Buffy and Angel. Comment and Review.**


	5. Honeymoons and Debts

Chapter 5: Honeymoons and Debts

**Hey guys. Sorry for the late update. This chapter was harder to write than the last. My muse was acting up. But I finally got it. Enjoy.  
**

Delia woke up to the smell of a good breakfast. She sat up and pulled the sheet up to cover her body and looked around. She was in a plain bedroom of a beach house in San Diego that Buffy had offered to her and Liam. It was her father's, but he was in Spain and wasn't using it, so they used it for their honeymoon. Delia got out of bed with the sheet covering her body and made her way to the kitchen, where she found the source of the breakfast smell. On the table was a stack of pancakes and a bowl of strawberry's with syrup and cream. Beside her breakfast was a note. Delia picked it up and read it.

_Delia,_

_Went out for a swim. Be back soon. Enjoy your breakfast._

_ Love, Your Husband._

_P.S. You are more than welcome to join me_

Delia smiled and sat down to eat her breakfast. After finishing her breakfast, Delia walked out on to the deck that looked out to the ocean. She saw the vast array of the sea and felt a wave of calm flood over her. She loved the beach. She used to go to one near her home where she grew up. The beach always calmed her and gave her some of her best ideas in the past. She looked out to the beach and looked for Liam. She didn't see him. She got a little worried. She looked out to the ocean to find him swimming, but he wasn't there either. Panic started to flood. What if he drowned? It wasn't like they went to the beach a whole lot. With a splash, Liam suddenly appeared, rising from the water. Delia watched mesmerized, as Liam's wet body rose from the sea, the sun shining off the water droplets as they ran down his naked chest. He walked up to the deck and stood staring at Delia who was staring at him. They stayed there staring for a moment.

"What?" He asked smiling.

"Nothing." Delia replied, also smiling. Liam continued to stare at her. "What?"

"Nothing." They both laughed. Liam went up the wooden steps and stood right in front of her. They just stared at each other some more. "You know, when we're outside, we have to cover up. But inside, no one can tell us to wear anything." He had a raise eyebrow. She raised her eyebrow too.

"I see your point." She grabbed his hand and led him into the beach house. Once inside, she dropped the sheet covering her, revealing herself to her husband. He looked her up and down with a smile. "But you know the rules. If I'm naked, you have to be naked too." In a second, Liam took of his swim shorts. Delia looked at him up and down and smiled evilly. "You know what I feel like doing now?"

"What?" Liam asked stepping forward.

"I feel like," She leaned into him as if to give him a kiss. He closed his eyes, expecting it. "getting a tan." She finished. Liam opened his eyes in confusion. She smiled and turned to go back to the bedroom to get her bathing suit, swinging her hips along the way. Liam watched her and sighed.

"She drives me nuts." Liam said to himself putting his swim shorts back on. "But if she does that all the time, I'll go insane." Without anything else to do, Liam made himself some eggs for breakfast. Delia came back in a black bikini, flip-flops, a towel, and sunglasses, carrying a bottle of sunscreen, and a fold-out chair. Liam looked at her and stopped chewing for a second and started back up.

"I'll be out on the beach if you need me."

"Good to know." Delia walked over to him and bent down to his ear.

"P.S. You are more than welcome to join me." She whispered into his ear and left. Liam felt a shiver go over him as she whispered into his ear. He watched her leave and looked back at his half-finished breakfast. He hurriedly, finished his eggs and got his towel and a fold-out chair and followed Delia. She was already on the beach in her chair, stretched out, soaking in the sun. Liam came over and set his chair down and sat next to her. "I see you took up my offer."

"Well after your show this morning, I'll take what I can get."

"You got a showing many times last night."

"It's a good show." Delia punched him in the arm, making him wince in pain and rub his arm. "What do you expect? I haven't had you for over a year. There's a lot of pent up excursion."

"Now you know the consequences of leaving me."

"Yes I do. Never again." He grabbed the sun block and put a lot of it on his body and started rubbing.

"I don't think you need that much."

"But I do."

"Why is that?"

"My dad passed on something much worse than his demon to me."

"What?"

"Irish genes." Delia looked confused. "We Irish men come in two shades. White and red. No in-between."

"Then why come out here?"

"Because you're here."

"Aww. That's sweet." She leaned and kissed him. Liam and Delia sat on the beach, talking occasionally, but enjoying the sun, the sound of the waves, and the slight breeze that they were lucky to have that day. Usually, Liam would have thoughts about what to do next for some mission he was on. But today, he had no thought but to enjoy the company of his wife. He fell asleep shortly afterward. Letting his mind clear for the first time since his mother comforted him after experiencing all of his worst days of his life.

…

Liam woke with a start and rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Man. How long have I been asleep?" he asked sleepily.

"About two hours." Delia answered. Liam sat up and blinked a few times looking out to the ocean.

"Another dip should wake me up." He got up out of his chair and turned to Delia. "Care to join me?" Delia looked out to the ocean and back at her husband.

"Sure. Why not?" She set her sunglasses down and took Liam's hand. He led her to the water and let go to go in. He ran and dove into the blue water. She half laughed, half cried as the cold water sprayed on her from his splash. She looked out at the water, expecting him to come immediately back to the surface, he didn't. She called his name, and thinking he was playing an evil trick on her as revenge for what she did to him this morning. When he didn't come back up after a minute, she began to worry. She half-wadded, half-ran into the cold water and called his name again. She got no response. She screamed as he erupted from the water behind her and grabbed her. He lifted her and plunged her, head first, into the water. He let her go and she swam up to the surface. She breathed in some air as Liam laughed at his accomplishment. She glared at him

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You nearly drowned me." She said.

"Well I had to get back at you some way, didn't I?" She splashed a lot of water on to him. He splashed back. They just stayed there splashing at each other for a good minute. When they stopped, Liam had his back to the beach and Delia had her back to the ocean. They both smiled at each other. Liam's smile faded as he looked behind Delia. She noticed and turned around to see a particularly large wave charging towards them. As it bowled them over, Delia was grabbed from behind. The wave pulled them both under the surface. Delia felt herself being dragged through the water and held. The next second, she was lying on top of Liam on the beach as the wave receded. She panted for air.

"Well…that…was fun." She said sarcastically. Liam spat out some salt water and made a face.

"Maybe fun for you, but I had to taste salt water." He spat out what ever salt water he could that was in his mouth.

"Well, I wouldn't know what that tastes like."

"Really?" He said with a raised eyebrow. Delia was a confused for a second before Liam brought her lips down onto his. She tasted the saltwater and made a disgusted face but didn't pull away. They stayed there kissing before both of them had to come up for air. "Now you know what it taste like."

"It's tolerable."

"I think it was better the second time around." They both laughed before getting back up. "I don't know about you, but I had my fair share of swimming today."

"Seconded." They both walked back to their chairs and grabbed their towels. They dried themselves off and grabbed the chairs. They walked back to the beach house and Delia dropped all her stuff. "Man, got sand all over me."

"Especially right there." Liam said and gripped her behind. She gasped. Liam laughed a little.

"I'm going to go take a shower." She went up the stairs and stopped, looking at Liam. "P.S." she said smiling and walked the rest of the way up.

"P.S.? P.S. what?" He thought about what she meant by P.S. Then it hit him. His note. He hurried up the stairs after her.

…

For the next few days, Delia and Liam's honeymoon was pretty much like that day. They would swim, eat, go out, stay in, play fight. During those few days, Liam had no other thought but have fun.

_Liam was walking through a cave tunnel. He was shirtless. He kept walking, cautiously, until he got to an open area of the cave. He looked around the cavern and heard a growl behind him. He looked and saw a Van-tal. He growled at him with piercing red eyes. Liam tried to shift, but he couldn't. He was confused at first, and that's when the Van-tal attacked him. It slashed his chest, making him scream in pain. Me composed himself and readied for the next attack. The Van-tal attacked and Liam blocked a few blows, but the Van-tal swiped at his feet and he went down. The Van-tal towered over him and sent his claw into Liam's chest. He screamed in pain. The Van-tal took its claw out and morphed into Liam. But this Liam had yellow demonic eyes and smiled a wicked smile. Liam stared scared at his evil twin before him._

"_Daddy's home." Evil Liam said. But it wasn't Liam's voice he heard. It was the sound of his father's. But he could tell the difference between his father's voice, and his demon's. He just heard Angelus' voice. Evil Liam laughed. _

"_Go to hell." Liam said through gritted teeth._

"_Already been." Evil Liam laughed again and a figure appeared behind him. He looked at the figure behind evil Liam and saw its face. It was a demon with pale white skin, white eyes, and long hair. It possessed natural scars and self-inflicted tribal marks. It also looked like it had battle scars. Liam's eyes grew wide as he knew that demon. "And I can't wait for you to join me, little brother." Liam was confused at his evil twin's statement. He was the older brother, not the little brother, in this situation. Evil Liam morphed back into the Van-tal form and bit Liam._

…

Liam woke with a start. He was panting and was sweating all over. He looked around at the dark bedroom of the beach house he and Delia were staying at. He looked at his wife, who was still asleep peacefully. He rubbed his hand over his sweat covered face and got out of bed. He put on his pants and went into the bathroom. He turned on the light and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like shit. He had bags under is eyes, he was really sweaty, and he looked pale. He could probably pass as a full vampire now. He turned on the faucet and cupped some water into his face. He turned off the water and dried his face. He looked at himself again. He still looked like shit. He slid his hand across his chest where the scar marks from the Van-tal attacks were. But there weren't any scars and marks at all. He had healed really fast after the attacks. He thought about his dream he just had. He thought about himself turning into that demon. He thought about the Van-tals he fought and defeated. What if he lost control and went all out. He could feel that he had control over some of the demon in him. If he let go and it all came out, he knew that he wouldn't come back. Even if Delia was there to bring him back. Liam looked at his chest and felt where there should have been a scar from his fights with the Van-tals. Liam closed his eyes and felt himself morph willingly. He opened his eyes again and saw the demon in the mirror. Blues skin, slight horns coming out of his face, ears elongated, yellow eyes, and sharp teeth. He snarled at his reflection and smashed his hand into the mirror.

…

Delia woke up with a start. She looked to her husband, but he wasn't there. She grabbed the sheet of the bed and covered herself. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 6:24. It was sunrise. She didn't smell any sign of breakfast being made so Liam wasn't cooking. She looked in the bathroom and turned on the light. She saw the broken mirror and a bit of blood. She began to get worried. She walked out of the bedroom and made her way to the kitchen. She didn't find Liam at all through the house. She looked out to the beach and saw Liam sitting, staring at the night that was leaving. Delia walked out to the beach and stood behind Liam

"Usually when people wake up early, they look at the sunrise." Delia said. "Not the night leaving." Liam didn't move.

"It's symbolic." He replied.

"How so?" Delia asked sitting down next to him.

"People look at the sunrise because it's light. It's warmth. It's peaceful. It's what we all crave for in our lives. But no one looks to the night leave. See the darkness leaving this day. Feeling the cold wash away. It makes you think about yourself."

"And what are you thinking about yourself?" Liam didn't reply. Delia looked at him, then out to the dark sky and understood. "You're thinking about your demon inside you."

"It scares me Del. I've seen a vamps face in this dimension. But what I can turn into is ten times worse."

"You can control it."

"But only enough so that I don't go crazy." He said looking at her. "I can feel that I don't have total control. I know that if I allow myself to lose it, if I let my demon free…..I'll never come back. Whether you're there or not, I'll never come back." He hugged himself. Delia felt sympathy towards him. She wasn't with him to experience every horrible moment of his life, but she was there for enough of it to know how Liam felt about himself.

"Liam, you are not evil. You are far from evil. You have done nothing but good in your life. So you're more demon than you want to be. That doesn't change the fact that you do good with everything that you have."

"So does my dad. But if he let his demon-self go, he may revert back to Angelus. He almost did in our time." Liam chuckled a little. Delia looked confused. "The more I attempt to not become like my dad and his demon, the more I become them both."

"But you haven't done anything evil."

"I sired two people."

"That wasn't you."

"Now you're sounding like my mother."

"Because she's a smart woman. And I know you Liam. I know that you hate this thing inside you. You want more than anything to get rid of it somehow. You want to be like how you were before because back then, you didn't have something inside you that you had to monitor. You didn't see the thing inside you kill people. Now you have and you want out." Liam looked down. "You're right. You're more like your father than you know. You have his brooding face too." Liam sighed heavily and kept his head bowed. "I'm feeling a little cold. I'll be inside if you want me." She got up and walked just a few steps before Liam lifted up his head.

"I know what to do." Delia stopped and looked back at him.

"What?"

"I know what to do about it." He got up and faced her. "I know how I might be able to get rid of it."

"You just figured out a way to get rid of the demon side of you."

"No. Just reverse what happened."

"How?"

"Romani."

"Gypsies?"

"Yes. If they are able to restore a soul to a vampire, maybe they might be able to reverse the process of my mutation and bring me back to what I was before."

"And you think that they're just going to do this for you? Free of charge?"

"I have some very good convincing powers. All I need to do is do a locator spell of where the Kalderash clan is and ask them."

"Aren't they the same ones that cursed Angel with his soul and had the whole loophole happiness clause?"

"Yes."

"Do you not see how that could go wrong?"

"It's the only shot I got." Delia looked uncertain. Liam walked over to her and held her arms. "Del, if it gets out, you could get hurt. I'm not leaving you. I just want to be able to have the opportunity to live the life we both want." Delia looked at her husband and hugged him. He hugged back.

"You know, that's the first time I ever heard you say anything that sounded remotely selfish."

"That's because there isn't a whole lot out there that I want. But I really want you. If that means I have to be selfish for a little bit, then so be it." Delia hugged him even more. She truly loved this man she married. Sure, he had his principles and focused on other people's needs then his own, but that's why she loved him.

"Does this mean our honeymoon's over?"

"Maybe not. We'll be traveling to another country. Seeing the sights. Then we can come back here and finish it up."

"How, if we are traveling to another country? We only have three days left."

"I can teleport us there. Then have a locator spell ready and track the clan down." Delia pulled back and looked at him.

"I guess you also got your mothers smarts." They both laughed. "When should we go?"

"Whenever you're ready. This is your honeymoon too." Delia smiled and kissed him.

"I'll be ready to go in about 15 minutes."

"I'll be waiting." Delia pulled away and went back to the house. "By the way," Liam called back to her. She turned back to him. "I looked at the date today and noticed that next month is the month we got married in in the future. To make up for this, I'll plan a getaway weekend for us."

"No Paris." She said. "Remember last time."

"Vegas?" he shrugged.

"Deal." She went back into the house. Liam had a plan brewing. He was going to talk to the Kalderash people and have them reverse his 'curse'. Then memories of what happened the night he took control came to him. He saved Delia from a Van-tal. He fought with her and defeated a group of them. Then he remembered his dream last night and the demon that was behind his evil self. He knew who the demon was and how strong it would be. He could use his demon to fight it. But what if he had to lose himself and let it take over. How was he going to come back? He was conflicted.

…

Liam and Delia materialized with Delia's motorcycle on a dirt road in late afternoon. The sun was just setting. They rode along that road for the next few miles until they come upon a maintenance station and stopped. Liam got off the bike and looked at his surroundings. Delia got off and checked the bike to make sure that it was still in working order.

"You know, I'm grateful for what you're doing." Liam said.

"Anything to get you to stop brooding." Delia said. "I love you, but a girl can only take so much of you in a depressive state."

"Are you sure you're not related in any way to Cordelia Chase? Cause you act like her sometimes."

"No, and all girls acted like this."

"Ah. I'm going to find a map to help us out." He walked into the maintenance shop and found a map of Romania. When he went out of the maintenance shop, Delia had finished checking the bike.

"Found them yet? She asked standing up.

"I need to do the spell." He placed the map on the ground and did the spell. A dot formed in a vegetative environment not too far from where they were. "Got em. We should get there in an hour."

"Better get a move on then." Delia got on the bike and Liam climbed on back. He had the map with him to give direction. Delia started up the bike. "What are you going to do when this is over?"

"Get back to my mission. Save the future."

"Oh." Delia turned back to her bike and was about to ride off until, "And when I'm done, retire to a nice life with you." Delia looked back at him. He smiled at her. She smiled back. She turned back to the road and rode off. They rode on that road for hours. Taking side roads and cutting across fields to save time.

…

A little under an hour later, the sun had set completely and Delia and Liam stopped near a Cliffside. Liam got off the bike and looked at the map. The advantage to his new vampire status was the night vision he got. He could see well in the dark and could see that the dot was nearby.

"This way." He directed Delia and they walked for a few minutes towards where they believe the Kalderash Clan was. They stopped when they came before the Cliffside. "Well this is odd." Liam checked the map again. "According this, it's says that the clan is beyond this cliff."

"But it doesn't look like there's any way through it." Delia said. They both looked at each other.

"Boulder covering cave entrance." They said together.

"Cliché." Delia said shaking her head.

"But clever." Liam said. Delia took a few steps forward.

"Ok. So they are beyond this big boulder. How do we…" she was cut off as the boulder covering the entrance suddenly moved on its own. It levitate a few feet above the ground and moved away. Delia looked behind her and saw Liam with his arms raised, struggling. He was lifting the boulder with his magic. As soon as the boulder was cleared away, Liam dropped it and lowered his arms, panting slightly.

"Things heavy."

"Nice job Luke." Delia said with a smile. Liam laughed a little and took of his coat. He then ripped off the sleeves of his shirt and tied them together. Delia was a little impressed at the now sleeveless Liam. "Not that I don't like the new look, but why did you tear your sleeves off?" Liam didn't answer. And picked up a fallen tree branch and tied the sleeves on to it. He put his coat back on and took out a lighter and lit the makeshift torch. "Oh."

"Follow me." He said and went into the cave. Delia followed behind him. His torch lit up enough the cavern so that they both can see. Liam stopped Delia and stared ahead. He saw flicker of light ahead go out.

"What is it?"

"Did you see that?"

"What?"

"There was a light that went out up ahead. Someone's here."

"Or something." They went further into the cave and stopped when they came upon an open cavern. Nobody seemed to be inside. Liam went further in and stopped when he saw a pile of logs that made up a camp fire. Liam held his hand over the smoking logs.

"Fire's just been snuffed." He sniffed the air. "And they're still here." Liam waved his hand over the logs and they immediately ignited, showering the cavern with light. Instantly, both Liam and Delia were attacked by men with knives, swords, and simple farm tools. Liam used his torch as a weapon to block the attacks and delivered kicks and punches to send his attackers back. He had a feeling that these people were the Kalderash Clan and he didn't want to hurt them. "Don't kill them." Liam ordered to Delia who had just grabbed her sword handle, but let go after hearing his order, much to her annoyance. They fought the clan until they were back to back and the clan surrounded them. "Look, we didn't come here to fight. We came here for your help."

"Who are you?" An elderly man with a sword asked.

"My name is Liam. This is my wife Delia. We've come here to seek the help of the Kalderash Clan."

"Help with what?" Another man asked. "Help in finding our people and killing us of one by one?"

"What are you talking about?" Delia asked. Just then, a group of vampires came into the cavern from where Liam and Delia entered.

"They lured the army here!" Shouted a woman.

"No we didn't." Liam said. "Del, let's have some fun."

"Gladly." Delia said with a smile and pulled out her sword. The vampires attacked and the couple fought them back. Liam sent a blast of energy that sent the vampires back to the entrance. Delia rushed over and slashed whatever heads she could find before they got up. She got about six or seven before the rest got back up. Liam came into the scuffle and beat back a few vamps and staked two with his torch. Delia swiped and slashed and got two more. The two of them together were no match for the vampires. They beat the vampire army back to the entrance of the cave and fought by the light of the moon and Liam's torch. They dusted vamps everywhere they turned.

"Just like old times." Liam said and he burned a vamp from his torch.

"Ain't it just." Delia said as she chopped three heads off at the same time. Delia sent a kick and knocked a vampire in to another, then slashed at both of their heads, turning them to dust. Liam used his torch as a club and hit vamps over the head. Some of them would catch fire and burn. Others would be disoriented and Liam would stake them with the other end.

"Retragere" shouted a vampire and the rest of the vamps, which were about twenty left, fled from the scene.

"Yeah that's right." Liam shouted after them. "Keep running boo-boo." Delia looked at him with a quizzical look. "What? First thing that popped into my head."

"Right." Delia said nodding her head. "Next time, leave the punning to the slayer."

"Whatever." They both turned back to the entrance, only to be met by the clan of gypsies whom came out and watched them fight of the vampire army. The elderly man who they talked to early stepped forward.

"You fought back and defeated over half of their army." He said.

"It's kinda what we do." Delia said sheathing her sword.

"That would mean you do not serve him."

"Serve who?" Liam asked.

"Corneliu Brasov." They heard a small quite voice. A very elderly woman appeared out of the crowd with a staff in hand. She walked forward to the couple. "A warlord who wants to kill our kind."

"Why?"

"He despises us and our ways. We have fought back but this war that he started is greatly ending. More and more of our kind die at his hands."

"Let us help you." Delia said.

"We do not want help from outsiders." The man said.

"Call it a debt." Liam said. The man looked at him. "We came her seeking your help. Let us help you, and you can help us." They stood there staring at each other for several seconds. The elder woman looked to the man and then back at the couple.

"We will speak inside." She said and directed them back to the cave.

…

Inside the cave, the clan mother was seated by the roaring fire with two elderly men on both sides of her. Liam and Delia sat on the other side of the fire. The rest of the clan had dispersed further into the cavern.

"We are peaceful people." the clan mother said. "We do not socialize ourselves with so many others. But our ways are sometimes feared by those who do not understand. Corneliu Brasov is one of them. He seeks control over these land and we do not allow him to. He reacted with violence. When someone does an act of evil against us, who disrespects us, we retaliate by cursing them."

"As I've witnessed." Liam said. The clan mother looked to him. "One of your particular act of vengeance was the curse place upon the vampire Angelus."

"You know of him?"

"I've met him. He is nothing like what people would read in history books. He has embraced his soul and now fights for the forces of good. Seeking redemption."

"He was meant to suffer for all of his crimes." One elder man said.

"As he is. But higher powers see him as someone who can do a lot of good for good. But that's not why I am here. Why isn't Brasov cursed?"

"He wears an amulet. Preventing any magic from affecting him."

"Only magic can't affect him." Delia said. "That means he's open to ass kicken."

"But you must first get passed his army of vampires."

"Not a problem for us." Liam said.

"How?"

"It's the reason why I've come to you. I am here for your help with another demon. Mine."

"Your demon?" the other man said.

"Yes. Four months ago, a portal opened up that would unleash chaos and darkens upon the world." Delia gave him a wary look. Liam continued. "A certain type of blood was needed to open and close the portal. I fought alongside the slayer that protected the blood. But we failed and it was used to open the portal. The slayer had the same type of blood and was willing to sacrifice herself to close it. But I found out she was pregnant and wouldn't allow an unborn child die. I too had the same blood type and jumped in to close it. But I am half demon, and my demon side kept me alive in a state of unconsciousness. I awoke months later, changed. The hell energy that made the portal mutated my demon side so that it would come out at its fullest. I have gained some control over the demon, but I fear that I don't have enough to control it completely. I come to you for help. Help to not control my demon, but get rid of it. Reverse the process of hell energy and restore me to what I once was." Liam finished his tail and request. The clan elder just looked at him, as if studying him to determine if he was telling the truth. She looked to the men beside her before looking back at the couple.

"We will discuss your request." She said, "For now, you are welcomed into our clan as honored guests for helping us tonight." She gestured for two women to come over and escorted Liam and Delia to the rest of the clan while she conversed with the men. Liam and Delia sat down before a smaller fire while the two women went to get them food.

"So what now?" Delia asked looking at Liam. Liam sighed.

"Now we wait." Liam said. "There isn't much we can do for the moment. And I doubt that they'll do anything to help unless we help them."

"So we come up with a battle plan?"

"Looks like it."

"Great honeymoon." Delia deadpanned.

"Look, I don't like doing this on our honeymoon." Liam said a little irritated. He knew that Delia didn't like going on some mission during their time. "I would have been fine with just doing it after. Why did you even say, let's go?"

"Because I want you to be happy." Delia said frustrated.

"I am happy. No I don't like what I am now, but it'll change once we save the future."

"Then why did you make a big deal about it?" Delia said angrily.

"Because it's new and I haven't had time to deal." Liam folded his arms and stared at the fire, brooding. Delia stared at him with an angry face and then stared at the fire. The two women came back with their food. They weren't hungry, but they didn't want to be rude so they ate. They didn't say a single word to each other for several minutes. But to them, it seemed like hours. After finishing their dinners, one of the two women came back and told them that the clan mother was ready for them. They followed her back to the clan elders and sat down.

"We have discussed your request," the clan mother began. "We may have a solution to your problem. We will help you, provided you help us."

"We will gladly help." Delia said. The clan mother nodded. "Where can we find this Corny Brasso?"

"Corneliu Brasov" Liam corrected her.

"Right, where?"

"You will find him here." The can mother answered. "He now knows where we are and will certainly come for us himself."

"Then we'll fight." Liam said standing up. "Delia and I can take him on while you all can escape. Delia will provide you with cover while you do so. I will attack head on and get to Brasov."

"You are just one man." An elder man said. "How do you expect to face the warlord's army and himself all on your own?"

"With my demon. I may not like my demon and don't want it, but it's got its perks. I will attack his army head on and fight him. You and your clan will escape." Liam pulled out his map and set it before the elders. We will set up and camping sight…here." He said pointing to a clearing about two miles from where they were. "Delia will help you out, I will meet you all there when the task is complete." The elders looked at the map and then at Liam, who had a determined face. They nodded at him.

"You are a brave one." The clan mother said. "This curse that was placed upon you, should never have happened. We will help you after this."

"Thank you." Liam said standing up. "We should get ready to go. Brasov and his army will be here soon." The elders nodded and went to the rest of the clan to tell them the plan. Liam looked back his wife, but saw her back as she strode out of the cave. Liam followed her. Liam found her leaning against a nearby tree, looking up at the stars. He walked slowly towards her and stood next to her. She knew that he was there, but said nothing. Liam was the one to break the silence.

"I know that this sucks." He said looking at her.

"Damn right." She said not looking at him. Liam nodded and looked back at the stars. "I just want a little time to be a newly wedded wife. That's all."

"We got some of that."

"I know. I don't know why I got angry."

"I do." Delia finally looked at him. He continued looking at the stars. "You leave one hell hole, hoping to have some down time that equals what you went through, only to sit down, and not five minutes later, have to deal with another crisis."

"I just thought that after everything we've been through, we could have some peace."

"And we did." Liam said looking at her. "We had several good days to ourselves."

"I wish it was more."

"I do too. I just want to forget everything and live our lives in the past peacefully." He chuckled. "I want to have our family here. It's better here."

"It is." Delia smiled. "Look." She indicated to the darkened, starry sky. "It's nothing but red and ugliness in our time."

"And now look at it." Liam smiled staring at it. "One of the hardest things in life to realize is that it's not a fairytale and there aren't a whole lot of happy endings."

"No. But there are happy memories."

"Then why waste time fighting." Liam looked to his wife who looked back at him.

"Balance." She shrugged. "To have good, you need bad." Liam smirked.

"I don't want to waste the time we have fighting Del." He came closer to her.

"I don't either. We have plenty of time to do that against Wolfram and Hart."

"Which reminds me. After this, what's say you and I go to LA and fill in for my dad while he takes care of my mom? We'll deal with Wolfram and Hart and give them a run for their money." He came even closer and held her.

"Sounds dangerous." Delia said smiling. Then a though occurred to her. "What about Willow and the Trio?"

"The trio won't be so much of a problem. Neither will Willow."

"Why?" Liam had a guilty look on his face. "Oh god, you told Willow."

"I had to. I couldn't bear the thought of her going through what she'll go through. I want her to find that love that my parents have. What Spike and Faith have. What everyone else will have. I told her about controlling her powers in England and she's all for it."

"But it's because of her that we get Andrew in the future." Liam thought about this. He mentally slapped himself because he forgot about Andrew.

"Dammit." Delia laughed at him.

"Now you're going to have to fix that."

"After we deal with this and Holtz. He's more important than Andrew at the moment."

"Deal."

"And let's make another deal that we don't fight over our time together getting shorten again. I just got you back and I don't want to ruin it by fighting over something that we have no control over."

"Deal." She leaned for a kiss and Liam complied. They stood there kissing for several minutes. They broke apart when they heard the faint sounds of footsteps coming their way. Liam let go of Delia and looked out into the darkness. With his night vision, he could see the army faintly. There was a lot.

"Look at that. Brasov's got himself a whole private fuckin army of the undead with him."

"This'll be like training."

"Maybe. Go back and tell the clan mother that they're here and get them out. I'll hold off as much as I can."

"Ok." Delia grabbed Liam and gave him one more passionate kiss. "I love you."

"I love you." They pulled apart and Delia went back into the cave. Liam took off his coat and hung it on a tree branch nearby. He took off his sleeveless torn shirt and pulled out two stakes. He climbed a tree and waited. He sat there perched as the army headed their way. Delia walked out of the entrance to the cave as the clan started making haste. She pulled out her sword, ready for a fight. The army came forward and Liam saw the warlord on horseback. Liam saw the amulet that protected him. This was going to be easy. They all stopped when they came upon Delia and saw the clan fleeing. Brasov looked to the clan and back at Delia.

"Are you their protector?" he smirked not believing that a girl could protect them.

"I am. Who are you?"

"Corneliu Brasov. Ruler over these lands. The gypsie scum defend them against me. But I will have it. And there is nothing you can do to stop me."

"Think again Corny." Delia smirked. Liam leaped down form his perch in front of the army, in full demon mode. The clan mother witnessed this and was stunned at the sight. As was the warlord who looked fearful, but composed himself and unsheathed his sword.

"Attack!" he ordered his army. The vamps attacked and Liam lunged at them. He took out six vamps in little under four seconds. He took on vamp after vamp after vamp, turning them all to dust. He was definitely no match for them. A few vamps broke through and went after the clan, but Delia intercepted them and chopped of their heads. She wasn't going to let any of the get to the clan. She saw a number a vampires come her way and she got into her stance, ready for them. She swung and slashed at anything that moved near her. A few vamps got around her and moved towards the clan. But Delia told the men to arm themselves in case any of vamps got passed her. The men fought what little vampires came their way. Delia did a good job at keep them at bay. Liam had better luck. He was fast. A minute he's on one side of the fight, the next he's on the other. He staked and ripped heads with every step he took. The warlord looked fearful at the sight of his army failing. But he wouldn't be defeated so easily. He took his sword and charged with his horse at Liam, who was busy attacking a group of vamps. The warlord was inches from Liam when he swung his sword, but Liam ducked and staked two vamps as if nothing happened. The warlord turned back around for another attack. Liam grabbed a vampire and threw him at the warlord. He hit his mark. The warlord went down and Liam staked his final few vampires and went after the warlord. The warlord stood his ground and raised his sword for a fight. Liam stood in his stance, glaring at the warlord. They stood there for several seconds before the warlord raised his sword to strike. Liam dodged the blow and the next. On the third stroke of the sword, Liam grabbed it and snapped it. The warlord looked stunned at what had just happened and looked fearfully at Liam. He grabbed his amulet and raised it up, as if to repel Liam. It didn't work. Liam growled and lunged, slamming the warlord to the ground and biting his neck, drinking his blood. Liam hadn't had blood since the night he turned those two people. Now he drank human blood for the first time since then. Delia finished off her vampires and looked towards Liam and saw him drinking the warlord's blood. She stood wide eyed in shock. Liam finished drinking and pulled up. He stared at the dead warlord and changed back. Liam panted and blinked a few times. He stood up, still staring at the body. Delia walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Liam." Delia said. Liam looked his wife, with a bit of fear in his eyes. "It's ok." She placed a hand on his cheek and rubbed it with her thumb. "He was evil."

"I know." Liam said. "It doesn't mean I have to like how I killed him."

"I know." Liam looked back at the body and bent down. He grabbed the amulet off of the warlord and held it in his hands.

"This might come in handy one day."

"How do you figure?"

"Just because I told Willow that she'll be evil, doesn't mean that it won't still happen."

"Preparing for everything."

"That's how you win." Liam turned back to Delia. "Let's end this." He turned and walked to the tree where he let his coat. He grabbed it and put it on himself. Delia stood next to him and slipped her hand in between his. They looked at each other for a minute before walking off to the gypsie camp. Once the arrived, the clan mother beckoned them forward. They sat beside the camp fire where the elders sat.

"We the people of the Kalderash people thank you for your bravery." The clan mother said.

"We were happy to help." Liam said.

"We saw your form. I saw you fight like an animal." Liam bowed his head in dismay. "That is the form you wish to rid yourself of?"

"Yes." Liam said solemnly. "I wish to be as I once was."

"But a power such as yours. You could commit many acts of evil with it."

"That's why I wish to get rid of it."

"But you chose to use it to protect those whom you don't know. You used it to save lives, rather than take them."

"I wasn't raised to kill innocents. I was raised to do the right thing."

"And you believe that taking away something that could help others is the right thing to do?"

"Hey, we saved your asses." Delia said. "We had a deal. Do you have what he needs to be normal or not?" She demanded hotly. The clan mother looked offended but nodded. She beckoned for a woman to come forward with a bowl. She poured it into a small cup and gave it to Liam.

"Drink this tea." The clan mother instructed. "It will reverse the process of the hell energy that changed you." Liam looked to the potion in his hands and then at the clan mother. He looked back and raise the cup to his lips, but he stopped when the memory of his dream came to him. He remembered the demon that was behind his evil self. He knew what that demon was. Who that demon is. He knew that if his next plan was to succeed, he would need his power. He didn't want it, but he might need it for that. He lowered the potion placed it on the ground.

"Liam, what is it?" Delia asked. Liam looked to her and got up. He led her away from the camp to talk to her privately.

"I can't." He said. "Not now anyway."

"What do you mean?" she asked confused. "We just spent the past several hours working towards this."

"I know. But the clan mother was right. I have a power to do real good. And if I am to save my brother, I might need it."

"So you listen to an old woman you don't know, but not your wife? She asked with a raise eyebrow.

"I didn't tell you this, but I had a dream right before we left. In it, I faced my demon. It beat me and it morphed into me. I told it to go to hell, and it told me it had already been there. And it would see me there. He called me little brother. And he had Angelus' voice. Not mine."

"So what does that mean?"

"I don't know. But behind my evil self, there stood a demon with scars all over its face. I recognized immediately. I know what it's capable of. If I am to save Connor, I will need the strength of my demon."

"And you're just now realizing this?" Delia practically yelled.

"Call me slow." He said with a smile. Delia smiled slightly and slapped Liam's chest. He laughed. "Del, I am grateful for what you've done to help me. But now I need you to promise me."

"Promise you what?" Liam handed her the cup of tea.

"That when I do turn, when I let my demon out, you will be there to bring me back." Delia looked to the cup of tea and back at Liam. He had a pleading look in his eyes. She placed a hand on his cheek. "I will always be there to bring you back." Liam smiled and kissed her hand. They walked back to the camp and asked the clan mother for a vial. She gave one, understanding Liam's choice and the couple left the now freed clan.

…

Liam and Delia spent their last day at the beach house in San Diego before heading back to Sunnydale. Liam was riding on the back of Delia's motorcycle as she drove. They finished up their honeymoon and were heading back to Sunnydale. They were riding along the streets of Sunnydale at night. They called Buffy earlier saying that they were coming home, but that they would be at the house by nighttime.

"So what are we going to tell them?" Delia asked.

"We had a nice time and are glad to be back." Liam answered. "They don't need to know of our little adventure." They pulled into the Summer's driveway. Delia turned off the bike and put the stand down. "Besides, it's not like they haven't had enough adventure here while we were gone." They both heard crashing and fighting noises coming from the house. Liam looked and saw the front door broken in.

"What's that about leaving one hell hole for another?"

"Me and my big mouth. You take front, I'll take back." They both ran in opposite directions towards the house. Liam went to the back and saw through the back door, a shark faced demon fighting Faith and Buffy. It seemed to be trying to go after Buffy mostly. Liam wouldn't stand for it. He opened the door just as the demon through Faith and rounded on Buffy. "Hey Fishface." Liam said getting the demons attention. Buffy looked at him relieved. "Nice mask. Wanna see mine." Liam morphed and lunged at the demon, crashing him through the basement door and they both tumbled down the stairs. They both landed with a SPLASH in a foot of water at the bottom of the stairs. Liam and the demon exchanged punches. He punched him back near where a pipe was leaking. The demon looked around for a weapon. He reached up and grabbed the pipe. Water sprayed but didn't hit Liam. The demon swung at Liam with the pipe. In one swift move he doubled him over, stripped the pipe from him and began beating him with it. After beating him a few times, Liam grabbed his head and twisted it violently. The demon splashed in the water, dead. Liam morphed back and stared at the dead demon.

"Liam." He heard his mother's voice coming from the top of the steps. She came down the steps, holding her swollen stomach, and saw Liam standing over the demon. Liam turned to her with a quizzical expression.

"Did you know it was flooded down here?" Liam asked. Buffy gave him a look reserved for the stupidest people on earth. "Hey, I haven't been here. I don't know what's been going on."

"Pipe leak." Buffy said. Liam turned to where the demon took the pipe and Buffy followed his gaze. She stared open mouthed at it. "That was a full copper re-pipe. Do you know how much that costs." Liam looked back at her.

"I think dad can handle the bill."

"That's not the point." Liam threw his hands up in surrender.

…

Buffy, Xander, Anya, Dawn, Willow, Liam and Delia were in the living room. They were surrounded by debris. Xander was examining the crushed coffee table. Willow and Dawn were looking at the shattered lamp, trying to put it together like a jigsaw puzzle. Anya was doing math in a notebook. Liam finished taping the back of an armchair as Delia sat in it. Buffy was sitting on couch watching, looking dazed and overwhelmed.

"This is going to cost a lot, isn't it?" Buffy asked. "I've trashed this house so many times. How did Mom pay for all this?"

"For starters?" Xander said. "She saved money with this crappy-ass coffee table." Buffy looked dazed.

"How did you guys get all obsessed with money anyway?" Liam asked sitting on the edge of the armchair next to Delia.

"We took a look at our budget." Buffy said. "Between weddings, honeymoons, your funeral, the regular bills and everything, we were pretty much broke."

"You do realize that dads practically one of the richest men in the world?"

"Yes, but it was still a shock." Liam shook his head and smiled. "So how was your guys' honeymoon?" Buffy asked bringing up a new topic. Liam and Delia looked at each other.

"Relaxing." Delia said.

"Definitely what we needed." Liam said in agreement.

"Well, that's good." Buffy said. "Now you guys are back and can help us with whatever next event is coming."

"Yes." Giles said entering, pressing a cloth to his forehead. Tara hovered around him solicitously. She was helping tend to him. "We all have been a little on edge, wondering about what's next to fix for the future." Delia and Liam looked at each other, wondering what to tell them.

"What I wanna first is what that demon wanted." Liam finally said looking back at his mother. "Aside from costing you a bundle."

"Dunno." Buffy said. "And now he's way too dead to answer that question."

"Sorry." Liam said innocently. "Wish we knew who hired him."

"Maybe I could do a locator spell ..." Willow said. Liam and Delia shot her a look. "Or maybe we could do regular detective stuff."

"Better idea Will." Delia said smiling.

"What's that all about? "Buffy asked seeing the looks on their faces.

"Nothing." They all said together. Buffy didn't look convinced.

"It's been four hours." Xander said making a decision on the table. "I'm calling it, people. This coffee-table. It's gone. Damn it!"

"Also the lamp's in critical condition." Dawn added.

"The big problem here's that all the pieces are in pieces." Tara said.

"Let's take these out to the trash and give 'em a decent throwing out." Willow offered. Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya picked up pieces of lamp or table and exited. Buffy, Giles, Liam, Delia and Dawn were left in the living room.

"Glad to know that certain things haven't changed around here." Liam said.

"Are they ever going to?" Dawn asked sitting next to Buffy. Liam looked at her.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out eventually. There are something's I want you guys to find out on your own."

"But you will tell us?" Giles clarified.

"Yes. I'm not leaving you guys in the dark."

"Good." Buffy said. "Now tell us what we need to know next." Lam looked to Delia uncertainly. Delia gave him a look that said make up your mind. Liam looked back to his mother.

"What you need to do right now is take care of Connor. He's next on the whole changing list." Buffy held her hand over her stomach protectively.

"What do you mean?" Liam sighed.

"Connor is the Miracle Child. In fact, all of us were. Demons and cults and Wolfram and Hart will be after him when he's about to be born." Buffy looked scared. Giles and Dawn looked concerned. "That's why, Delia and I have decided that we'll move to LA soon and take up dad's position at Angel investigations."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Giles asked. "What if Wolfram and Hart discover who you are?"

"Then they'll be in for a world of hurt." Delia said menacingly. "Liam's more demon than ever. I saw him take on an army of vampires on our honeymoon."

"He did? "Buffy and Dawn asked impressed. Liam nodded proudly.

"They never stood a chance." Liam said. "And neither will Wolfram and Hart. They want me and my brother, they have to take us both when we're dead. And that's going to be hard to do."

"And your father and I will…" Buffy started but was cut off by Liam.

"No. if they find out your pregnant with dad's baby, they'll come after you in an instant. You're slower than you used to be. They may succeed or create devastation along the way. I'm not going to let that happen." Buffy looked at her son who had a determined look on his face.

"Ok. What do you want us to do?"

"Stay and take care of each other. Del and I will be fine on our own."

"But I just got you back." Buffy pouted.

"I'll visit every weekend." Buffy looked a little happier. "But it's time I stop sitting on my ass and do something about these guys. If I can take them out before they set off their apocalypse, crisis averted."

"Will you have your father there with you?" Giles asked.

"He'll be there for a few cases to keep up appearances, but I pass off as him so much they probably won't know the difference." Buffy nodded her head.

"When will you guys leave?" She asked.

"In a few days." Delia answered. "Liam thought that it would be best if you two got to spend some time together before he left."

"He's right." Buffy smiled. Liam stood up, went to Buffy, and kissed her forehead looking at her. "I'm glad you're back."

"I am too." Liam said.

…

Liam and Delia were in Buffy's room getting settled in for the next few days.

"It was nice of your mom to let us stay in her room for a while." Delia said sitting on the bed.

"Yeah, and it'll only be until we move to LA to deal with Wolfram and Hart." Liam said putting the last of his stuff away. He stood up and sighed heavily.

"What is it?"

"I may have thirty years until the apocalypse, but I have no idea how to stop it." Delia looked down and stood up.

"I know how." Liam looked at her surprised.

"What?" Delia wlaked t oher stuff and pulled out a file from a drawer she placed it in when she unpacked.

"I managed to get this before I left."

"What is it?" Liam asked grabbing the file.

"The secret to Wolfram and Harts success" Delia said frowning. Liam opened the file. The top page was a picture of a gold orb with a pentagram on it which resembled a goat with its tongue out. "The Orb of Danzalathar. It acts as a portable hellmouth. Unleashing unholy energy. It could be used to control men's minds and create illusions." Liam putt the photo down and looked at the paper work. Wolfram and Hart had found the orb in 2020. But it didn't say where. "If the proper ritual in performed, the orb will…"

"Open every hellmouth on earth and release the armies of darkness." Liam finished. "Just like how it happened in our time. How did you manage to get this?"

"After you left, the rest of the team and I went back to Wolfram and Hart in LA to get answers."

"You did what?!" Liam yelled in shock. "Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Compared to everything else we've done?"

"Don't ever do that again."

"Yes dear." Delia laughed. Liam sighed.

"So we got the how. But we need to know the where."

"Which we don't have."

"But we have twenty years to find it." Liam thought for a moment. "We'll go back and deal with Holtz and Wolfram and Harts latest scheme. We'll help Willow if things get bad with her. During our down time, we'll look for this. Knowing how they bring the apocalypse is a big step for us."

"Are we going to tell your parents?" Liam didn't respond. He looked at the picture of the orb and remembered the demon from his dream again.

"Not yet. They're gonna have their hands full with what's coming next. And I intend to have my hands equally full."

**What do you think? We'll deviate from Buffy canon and have Angel canon instead. Along with some of my own episodes about Liam and Delia and them trying to find the orb. The whole thing with the gypsies and that warlord came from an Angel comic I read about. I just re-did it. I don't think I ever did this, but:**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing Buffy and Angel but Liam and Delia and everyone else made up from the future.**

**Stay tune for the next chapter. It should be posted sooner than this one was.**


	6. Heartthrob

Chapter 6: Heartthrob

**Ok you guys. Angel canon is here. It took me awhile to figure this episode out, but got it. Hope you like it. We learn a little bit more about Delia's time before she came back. Initialized means memory. And it's all the same memory. Just to let you all know. Enjoy.**

...

**Darkened Red Skies of LA**

**Over Los Angeles, California**

**November 22, 2030**

_Delia, Bill, Collin, and Danni were in a VTOL ship heading to LA. It was a suicide mission to everyone, but what other choice did they have. They needed this, didn't matter at what cost. Bill was flying the jet as the rest were on a video conference with Dawn and General Samantha Finn, Riley's wife._

"_You can't be serious." Sam said sounding shocked._

"_That's why you wanted all the slayers in LA?" Dawn said._

"_Yes." Delia answered. "We need this information if we are to succeed."_

"_But they've already won. What's the point?"_

"_Dawn, just listen."_

"_We have a plan." Collin said backing her up.  
_

"_Care to share?" Sam asked frustrated. "I don't like sending what forces I have left in one attack that'll kill them if they don't know what their fighting for."_

"_We need this information if we are to beat Wolfram and Hart." Danni said._

"_Where's Liam?" Dawn asked. "Let me talk to him."_

"_He's not here." Bill said from the cockpit. "I'm in charge now. Just send everyone you got into LA and have them cover us while we infiltrate Wolfram and Hart and get the intel saying how they caused all this. You have to trust us, guys. You know we are the best out of everyone in this dimension and we get shit done. If that's not enough for ya, then stay the fuck out of our way!" Dawn and Sam both looked chastised._

"_Ok." Dawn finally said. "We'll help with your plan. Whatever it is. You better pull through with it."_

"_We will." Delia reassured her._

"_We have all available Special Mission Units on the ground to help you." Sam said. "Graham's heading one of them. He'll meet up with you down there when you land. When you guys meet, you will confirm who you are. Challenge is Star. Countersign is Texas. That'll get you through any friendly territories."_

"_Great, thanks." _

"_DRAGON FIRE!" Collin yelled as a dragon flew overhead and breathed fire down on to the jet. It hit and the jet started to fall._

"_We're hit! We're hit! We're going down!" Bill called and tried to control the ship. It crashed and Delia black out._

…

Delia woke from her dream with a start. She looked at her surroundings and remembered that she was in Buffy's room of the Summer's home. She had gone back in time and met up with her husband and they had their honeymoon. She looked to where Liam was, but he wasn't there. Where did he go? Not two seconds later, Liam came in with a towel around his waist, having just taken a shower.

"Morning hun." Liam said with a smile.

"Morning." Delia said, but not with the same enthusiasm he had. He noticed this.

"What's wrong?" he asked sitting on bed with her.

"Nothing. Just a bad dream."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No. It's nothing. Really."

"You sure?" Delia nodded to him. "OK. You need to get up anyway. We're going to be going soon."

"Where?"

"Don't you remember?" Liam asked getting up and walking over to a drawer. "We're going to LA to fill in for dad at his agency."

"Oh. Right. Should probably get a shower and everything."

"Daily routine dictates, that's acceptable." Liam said smiling. Delia smiled too and walked out to the shower. She didn't want to Liam what happened before she left. She didn't want to put him through anymore heartache then he's already been in. out of all the pain that their relationship went through, he took most of it. This one was going to be hers.

…

Liam walked down the stairs and entered into the kitchen where Willow, Tara, and Dawn were eating breakfast.

"Good morning Liam." Willow greeted him.

"Morning." Liam replied. Since Buffy had moved to the mansion, Willow and Tara had moved into the Summer's home and took Joyce's room. They would help out with Dawn and Buffy during her pregnancy. Liam liked that his aunt was so caring. For the past few days since Liam got back, he and Willow had talked about controlling her power so that she wouldn't go overboard and turn evil. While it wasn't really something pertaining to the future so much, Liam wanted to change it for Willow. After Connor's birth, Willow would go off to England to control her magic. They decided that that was the best course of action for now.

"So, are you and Delia ready to be a part of Angel's team?" Tara asked.

"It's not going to be that hard. We fought Wolfram and Hart a lot in the future. It's going to be a hell of a lot easier now."

"How's that?" Willow asked.

"Well, Wolfram and Hart doesn't have the Crows with them. So that's a big bonus. Plus, I'm more trouble to them now then Angel was."

"But do you really have to go now?" Dawn asked disappointed. In the time that Liam came back, she didn't have a whole lot of time with. They hung out a little bit for the few days he came back from his honeymoon, but she wanted to spend more time with her nephew.

"Yes. I have to Dawn." Dawn frowned. "But don't worry. You all can come visits me if you want. And I'll visit you guys like every week." Dawn smiled at this idea. They heard the front door open and close.

"Hello." They heard Buffy's voice.

"In here, Buffy." Willow called. Buffy and Faith came into the kitchen. Liam smiled at the both of them.

"Hey, mom." Liam said and gave her a hug. Liam lurched back when he felt the baby kick. "Whoa. I just felt Connor kick me."

"Really?" Faith asked with a smile.

"Yeah. Felt weird."

"How do you think I feel?" Buffy said going to the refrigerator and looking for food.

"Where's dad and Spike?" Liam's questioned was answered when the back door opened and Angel and Spike came in under heavy blankets and through them to the ground after closing the door. "Oh. Never mind."

"Hey, Liam." Angel said coming over and hugging his son. "You and Delia about ready to go?"

"Yeah. Just waiting on Delia to finish up her shower."

"Which I did." Delia said coming into the kitchen. Her hair was still a little wet from the shower. "Hi everyone."

"Hey D." Faith said giving Delia a fist bump. In the short time that Delia was here in the gang, she had really gotten along with them all. Especially the slayers. No surprise. She would spar with Faith for training and showed her a few moves that she learned form the future. She even beat her in a few matches which was funny to Delia because she was always beaten by Faith in the future. It was a nice change of pace. "You ready to do a lot of major ass kicken?"

"If you knew me at all Faith, you'd know that I'm ready kick anyone's ass." Delia looked to Liam. "Especially his."

"Hey!" Liam said in protest. Delia got laughs form everyone else in the room.

"Better get used to that mate." Spike said snickering.

"Hey, when she got here the first night and fought demon me, I knocked her on her ass."

"And I got you back for it." Delia countered. This got her a few more laughs.

"You guys almost ready to go?" Buffy asked taking a bite of celery and peanut butter.

"Yeah. Just need to get our stuff."

"Cars already out front and my teams expecting you us?" Angel said. He had called his team in LA and told them about Liam coming back and that he would be taking over for him while he was with Buffy. They were all surprised at the news. Especially with Liam being able to turn into the vampires pure form. But they all accepted his proposal to fight with them while Angel took care of Buffy.

…

At the Hyperion, Cordy was walking into the lobby carrying two big mousetraps. Gunn and Wesley were on the sateen.

"So, whose turn is it to set the traps?" Cordy asked holding up the traps

"His." Wesley and Gunn both said point at each other.

"You guys amaze me. You'll fight hell-beasts, but you're scared of rats."

"Man, I hate rats." Gunn said. "With their little beady eyes..."

"...and their beady teeth." Wesley added.

"And their little tails all woosh, woosh." Cordy scoffed at them and walk towards the basement door.

"Well, aren't you two just the biggest scardies I ever saw..." Cordy said but was cut off as she dropped the traps with a scream as the door suddenly opened just as she reached it. Angel was standing there with a little smile on his face. Cordy smiled and gave him a hug. "You're back." Gunn and Wes both got up and came over, both starting to smile. "You guys, he's back!" Cordy pulled Angel after her into the lobby.

"Wesley." Angel said.

"Welcome home." Wesley said catching Angel in a hug.

"I've always been home."

"But back with us."

"Hey, what's up man?" Gunn said greeting Angel with a hug as well.

"So, I hope you had a good vacation with your wife and unborn child." Cordy said.

"It was, and then Liam came back." Angel said. "With a number of surprises." The lobby doors opened and Buffy, Delia, and Liam with the bags came in. Liam dropped the bags and straightened up.

"So this is the Hyperion now." Delia said looking around. "Not much has changed."

"Then you should feel right at home." Buffy said walking towards the team.

"Buffy." Cordelia said smiling and hugging Buffy. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Buffy said smiling and putting a hand on her stomach.

"How's little Connor?" Wesley asked.

"Also good."

"So this is Liam." Gunn said looking at Liam. He looked like an exact duplicate of Angel, except the eyes.

"Yes." Angel said and walking over to Liam. "Everyone, I want to introduce you to Liam. My son."

"Hey guys." Liam said giving a smile and a wave. They waved back.

"So now we know you." Gunn said. "And you know us?" Liam nodded.

"Yes. I know you personally Gunn. You gave me my axe and knife for my sixteenth birthday, which someone lost." Liam eyed his parents.

"We looked but we couldn't find them." Buffy said.

"Whatever." Liam said shaking his head.

"So, you're from the future." Cordelia said.

"Yes. And dad already warned me. I can't tell you anything about the future unless it relates to an apocalypse. So don't ask me about your futures." Cordelia looked disappointed.

"But you will tell us about Wolfram and Harts plans to bring forth the apocalypse?" Wesley confirmed.

"When I have intel to tell, I'll tell." This confused some of them.

"I think I got that." Buffy said.

"Whoa." Gunn said spotting Delia. A smiled spread across his face as he side-stepped Liam and went over to her. "And hello to you." He said holding out his hand to shake hers. "I'm Charles Gunn."

"I know." Delia said shaking his hand.

"You heard of me?"

"I've met you. I'm Delia Winters. The Slayer of the Future."

"And my wife." Liam said glaring at Gunn. Gunn's smile faded and immediately took back his hand.

"Oh. Three reasons not to go after her." Gunn said.

"Exactly." Liam said coming over and standing beside Delia.

"Wait." Cordelia said. "So you're Angel's son, a half-vampire, and you married a slayer." Both Liam and Delia rolled their eyes knowing what's coming. "Does anyone else see the irony?" Cordelia said laughing.

"Yes. We all got it." Delia said sounding annoyed. "We'd appreciate it if you could look past it."

"Please." Liam added.

"The place looks good guys." Angel said stepping to the stairs and bringing up a new topic. "How's Fred?"

"Good!" Cordy said. "She's doing well."

"Hasn't come out of her room yet, huh?" Buffy guessed.

"Not what you'd call frequently. We, we sent up a lot of tacos."

"We'll get Liam and Delia settled in and then I'll go check up on her." Angel said turning back to them. "You guys can bring them up to date."

"Wait!" Cordy said. "You're not staying?"

"We just came to bring Liam and Delia here." Buffy said. "And plus, we really wanted to see you guys." Cordy smiled at her.

"Hey dad, why don't you introduce me to Fred." Liam suggested. "She likes you, she might like me too. I could probably get her out of her room."

"Yeah, sure." Angel said. "I think she will like you."

"What do you think Del?" Delia gave no response. "Del? Del." Liam looked to Delia who was staring around at the hotel lobby as another memory came to her.

…

"_Del! Del!" Delia heard her name being called. She came out of her daze from the crash and looked up to see Bill strapped in the flight seat. He took out one of his daggers. "Get switched on. We gotta move, now!" He said and sliced his seat belt. Delia looked around and saw a rifle lying next to her. She picked it up and started to climb out of the wreckage. She got out with Bill and crouched with him, getting cover. She looked up and saw the sky was red from hell and she saw the dragon that threw fire at them, throw another ball of fire at a building above them. Pieces of debris fell onto the street as Delia crouched for cover. Bill cocked his rifle and turned to Delia. "I know you don't like guns, and you don't like the new tech, but for all intense and purposes," He tossed her a mag. "Get over it." Delia nodded and loaded the mag into her rifle and cocked it ready. "Wolfram and Hart's about 500 meters north! We'll leg it from here! Let's go!" Delia followed Bill as he led the way into the streets of LA. "Collin, Danni, you up?!" Collin and Danni were getting on their feet from the crash. Collin straightened his ball cap and picked up his rifle. Danni dusted herself off and grabbed her pistol. They didn't look bad._

"_We're good." Collin responded and followed Bill. Since Liam left over a week ago, Bill had taken charge in honor of his cousin. He was doing well so far. They all ran through the streets of LA as the battle ensued. Their plan was to get intel on how Wolfram and Hart brought forth the apocalypse. They would get that information and follow Liam back in time to tell him. They didn't think that just saving Buffy and Angel was going to be enough. As they moved through the streets, they encountered demons and humans, all Crow members._

"_More Crows inbound! Dead ahead!" Collin called out and started firing his rifle. Delia aimed and fired her weapon. Even though she had her sword over her back, it would be useless with the army that they were facing. She might take out so much, but it would do nothing if she died before she got the intel. They all eliminated the Crows that were in front of them and continued on. As they approached an intersection, a three story demon came bursting through a building and looked at them. They all stopped and stared at the demon. It roared before being blasted from the side. It fell down, dead. The group looked and saw a couple of tanks and infantry units heading down the intersection. _

"_Friendlies! Hold your fire!" Bill ordered. They made their way over to the new guys._

"_That means don't shoot 'em Collin." Danni said._

"_No shit!" he responded. A soldier got off a tank and approached them, followed by two others. _

"_Star!" the man called._

"_Texas." Delia responded. The man took off his helmet. It was Graham._

"_Glad to know you guys could make it!"_

"_Same." Bill said. "You briefed?"_

"_Vaguely. All I got was suicide."_

"_Sorta it. We need to get to Wolfram and Hart."_

"_The heart of the beast. What's the plan? Full frontal assault?"_

"_No. We go in, get intel, get out. We got a plan with it."_

"_Mind sharing?" No one answered. "Right. Ok. My guys will escort you through the streets to Wolfram and Hart. Hope you guys know what you're doing."_

"_So do we." Bill said. They dispersed and went down the street, heading to Wolfram and Hart. They saw the massive devastation that the city endured. There wasn't a building that wasn't damaged in some form. Some have even toppled over. Some had given way due to structural damage and were completely demolished. They encountered more demons in the streets. _

"_Contact front!" Collin said. "Hostiles in the open!" He took out his crossbow and fired three arrows rapid fire. They didn't hit any demons but exploded a few seconds later, getting a third of the demons in front of them. "Bull's-eye!"_

"_Save your arrows for something else." Bill ordered as he fired his rifle. "Waste your rifle ammo." Collin switched back to his rifle and fired. Before they can go any further, a dragon swopped down and landed on the street. It breathed fire and took out a tank. _

"_Heads up!" Danni said and raised her arms and moved them in a slashing motion. The dragon's neck was suddenly split open and it cried out. It fell dead on the ground, crushing a number of demons. _

"_Nice one, Dan!" Collin said._

"_Get off the street!" Delia said. "Go right! Go right!" They headed right onto a building that was torn apart on the inside, but still standing. "Graham, this is Delia Winters. We're separated for the moment, but are proceeding to the Target Area."_

"_Acknowledged." Graham said over an intercom. "My guys and I'll clear any pathways you want. We'll also be killing whatever demons attack us."_

"_Alright. That's really all you can do for the moment. Thanks a mill. Winters out."_

"_So what's the game plan?" Danni asked as they went to the stairs leading up to the upper levels._

"_Same as before." Bill responded. "Get intel, kill bad guys."_

"_I like it." Collin commented. _

"_Up the stairs! On me!" They moved up the stairs to the third level. The stairs going up from there was blocked by debris. "Collin, Danni, hold here till my signal. Danni, get on your telepathic uplink and scout out targets. Del, with me." Danni started to float and got into a meditative position while Collin kept watch. Bill and Delia moved up the stairs and came to a door at the end of the hall. Bill kicked open the door. Delia went through and Bill followed. Collin and Danni stayed waiting. "Let's keep moving!" _

"_Two demons on top of the rubble." They heard Danni's voice inside their heads. They moved up a pile of rubble and took out the demons on top. They turned a corner and saw a gaping hole in the building they were in that took out a portion of the floor. "Demons 12 O'clock high." They looked up at the upper level that was showing and saw demons with swords swoop down. They took them down easy. They walked carefully across the floor that was still intact. Crow soldiers met them on the other side and fired at them. Bill fired and got one by a television that exploded when it was shot. Delia took out a couple more behind a couch. Delia followed Bill through the hall and down a stairwell. _

"_Collin, Danni, tighten up." Bill ordered. "Maintain the timeline, we need to hit Wolfram and Hart fast." Delia and Bill moved down the flight of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, Bill heard muffled voices coming from the other side of the door leading to the alley. He positioned himself on one side and Delia followed suit on the other. "Multiple voices, alley behind the door." He took out a canister. It was a flash bang._

"_Hold on." Delia said. She opened the door slightly to peer outside. She saw the crows, all looking down the alley for anything that moved. "I got this." Delia put own her rifle and unsheathed her sword._

"_What the fuck are you doing?" Bill asked._

"_My way." Delia said. She kicked open the door, getting the attention of the crows. Before they could even raise their weapons, Delia ran at slayer speed, slashing every one of their throats in a blur. Once she was finished, she slid on the ground as the bodies fell. She stood back up and sheathed her sword. Bill came into the alley with Collin and Danni. Danni looked impressed. Collin looked bewildered. Bill looked unhappy. He raised Delia's rifle and handed it to her._

"_Next time, shoot 'em." Bill said._

"_Whatever. This route should takes us back onto Main Street. Wolfram and Hart's not far."_

"_Let's cut through this building. Avoid any more confrontation then we have too." They opened up another door and moved through it. It was dark in the room that they were in. it looked like a kitchen. "This way." They moved out of the kitchen and into a hallway. It seemed familiar to Delia. _

"_This place seems familiar."_

"_It should." Bill said and led them down the hallway and up a flight of stairs. They came out to a hallway and came upon a balcony that looked over a lobby. "It's the Hyperion." They saw the lobby of the Hyperion. It wasn't too bad. There were some knocked over furniture, a bit of debris that fell t=from the ceiling and couple of broken windows_

"_Old Slayer Organization Training Facility." Danni said._

"_As well as HQ for Angel Investigations."_

"_This is weird bro." Collin said._

…

"Del. Del." Delia came out of her daze and looked at Liam who was looking at her. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Just remembering." Delia answered. Liam nodded but didn't look totally convinced.

Fred was in her room adding the words listen, listen to the scrawls covering the walls. Her room was a complete mess. Foods scraps and plates were everywhere. Her walls were covered in equations and words.

"Listen. Listen. Listen." She said to herself. She jumped at the knock on her door. "Oh. Hi! How are you? I'm just fine. Doing real good here, no need to worry about me, but thanks for checking!" She went back to writing.

"It's me, Fred." She heard Angels voice. Fred looked happy.

"Oh, Angel." Fred hurriedly took off her glasses and ran to open the door. "Hi! Hey! You're... Well, hi there!" she said with a big smile. She reached as if to hug Angel, but when he just kept standing outside of her door she stepped back again. "It's good to... Did you have a nice... Oh, here, let me make some room!" She hurried to take some stuff off one of the chairs.

"I can't come in." Angel said.

"Of course not. You're worn from your trip. You go rest. We'll catch up later." Fred began to shut the door, not looking at Angel.

"Fred, I wanna talk to you, I just can't come in unless you..." Fred pulled the door back open.

"I invite you. Instead of being rude! Oh, come in. Come in." Angel walked in and looked at the writing covering the walls. "It's just a smidge of vampire in you as far as I'm concerned, but the universe has rules. I'm a great believer in rules, and theorems, formulas..."

"I get that."

"Aphorisms leave me a little dry."

"How are you?"

"Yeah. - Good. - Everything's pretty much like when you, you know, went away."

"Sorry I left so suddenly. I just..."

"Hey, no, you had things you had to take care of. And it's not like I need a babysitter or... You're sticking around 'now', right?"

"Actually, I can't."

"Oh." Fred looked down disappointed.

"I actually came by to check on you and to introduce you to someone."

"Who?" Fred said looking up a little scared. The door opened and Liam stepped through, closing the door behind him.

"Fred, I'd like to introduce you to my son from the future. Liam."

"Hi Fred." Liam said smiling. Fred smiled back

"Hi. I'm Fred. But I guess you already knew that since you called me Fred. Hi" Liam chuckled a little.

"Hi."

"Liam's going to stay with you guys for a while." Angel explained. "I'll come by every now and then but, he'll be the one sticking around."

"And Delia." Liam said.

"Who's Delia?" Fred asked. "Oh. You mean Cordelia. I already met her. Nice girl. She was princess in Pylea."

"I know. And it's not Cordelia that I'm talking about. It's just Delia. My wife."

"Oh." Fred looked disappointed again. "You have a wife in this time period. That's a little strange. But I guess no one can be lonely forever."

"She's my wife form my time. She came back to help me."

"Oh. Well that makes a lot more sense." Liam nodded to her.

"I'm likin' her." Liam told Angel. Angel wasn't really paying all that attention. He was reading the words on the wall behind Fred.

"Listen, listen, listen... What are you listening for?" Angel asked her. Fred sat down on the arm of a chair, pulling her knees up.

"The click." She answered. "When it all comes together and makes sense. There's like a click in your brain and then you understand things again."

"I sometimes listen for that too." Liam said looking at the walls. "What happens if you run out of wall space before you get the click?" Fred hugged her arms around her knees.

"I don't know."

"Fred." Angel began. "I know you spent..." He stopped as he stepped on some of the trash littering the floor, then moved a chair to sit across from Fred. "five years in a place where humans could only be slaves or fugitives. I know that wasn't a picnic for you. But you're home now. You're safe. You can come out of your room. - I know that it's gonna take some time."

"Time." Fred said getting up. "I have a whole treatise on that. It seems to take a lot of it to do just about anything these days."

"Tell me about it." Liam said smiling. Fred started to write on the wall. Liam went over and gently took the marker out of her hand. "Fred. Fred. You don't have to write absolutely everything down."

"Oh, right." Fred said laughing. "God, I should write 'that' down." Liam laughed. He reached out and helped her down off the chair she was standing on.

"You just need to take some small steps. Hmm?" He pushed the glasses up on her nose with a slight smile. Angel smiled at his son's kindness with her. "Like, uhm, coming downstairs and hanging with us for a while. What do you say? There's nothing to be scared of. You're safe here in the hotel." They heard Cordy scream downstairs. "Hold that thought!" he and Angel rushed out of the room. They ran downstairs where Cordy was having one dozy of a vision. Wes, Gunn, Buffy and Delia came running as well from different parts of the hotel. Wes and Gunn support Cordy in a sitting position between them.

"Easy." Wesley said. "What is it? What did you see?"

"A bunch of vampires - and - they're crashing a party." Cordy said. "They're killing people."

"Where?" Delia asked.

"Wilson College. Bonner Hall. Room nine eighteen."

"Room nine eighteen, got it." Liam said.

"They're gonna take hostages. Watch out for the blonde. She's the worst!" Liam sighed.

"It's always a blonde."

"If they're not stupid, they're dangerous."

"Sometimes both."

"Hey!" Buffy said.

"Are you alright?" Angel asked Cordy.

"Yeah." Cordy said. "Fine. I'm fine. Go. Go!"

"Delia and I can take care of this." Liam said heading to the door. Delia grabbed her broadsword and slung it over her back.

"Wait." Angel said, the coupe stopped and looked at him. "It's Wes' call if you guys go alone." They all looked at Wes for an answer.

"As leader, I don't know much about the two of you to give an answer to whether or not you should do things on your own." Wes said. "We'll all go."

"Fine." Wes and Gunn followed Liam and Delia out of the lobby.

…

Gunn, Wes, Liam and Delia entered a dorm room littered with bodies. Gunn picked up a flyer.

"So much for inviting everyone." Gunn said.

"Some of them are still alive." Liam said. Wes immediately dialed 911.

"There's been an accident." He said into the phone. "We need two, maybe three ambulances. Wilson College, Bonner Hall, Room nine eighteen." Liam looked around the room then walked over to the open window.

"Anything?" Delia asked.

"They're heading east on sixth street." Liam said. "Take the car."

"What are you gonna do?"

"What I do best." Liam jumped out of the window, then ran along the roof tops.

"Come on. I don't wanna miss the fun." Wes and Gunn followed Delia out of the dorm room.

…

Four vampires were sitting in a convertible, whooping as they drove down the street. A blond boy sat between the blonde vampire Cordy mentioned and the driver, his dark haired girlfriend sat between the two vamps in the back.

"Please." The boy pleaded

"Hmm?" the blonde vamp said.

"Please don't hurt her."

"You love her? The boy nodded "You'd do anything for her. He nodded again. "What if - we just kill her and let you go? Hmm?" The boy just stared at her. "Come on now. Life's about making choices. - You or her, what's it gonna be?" the boy though for a long moment.

"Her. - Take her. God, I..."

"Gee. Bobby, you call that love? We get home I'll show you what love is." The girl in the back screamed as Liam dropped down onto the hood of the car and grabbed the wheel, serving the car off the street into a building. Wes, Gunn, and Delia brought Wes' car to a squealing stop behind it, and jump out, grabbing some weapons from the backseat. Delia unsheathed her sword. Liam jumped off the hood, slugging the vamp sitting beside the girl then pulled the boy and his girlfriend up and lifted them out of the car.

"Run!" he said. The blonde vamp slugged Liam and ran after the kids, only to find herself face to face with Delia.

"Slayer." She hissed and tried to punch Delia, only for Delia to dodge it and swipe her side. The blonde vamp yelled in pain. Delia went to slash at her head but the vamp ducked and swiped her feet. Delia fell to the ground. Liam came from behind and grabbed the blonde as Gunn and Wes were dealing with the other three vamps. Gunn hit one then quickly stakes it and throws the stake to Wes, who caught it and used it to stake his vamp. Seeing this, the third vamp runs while Liam grabbed the blonde by the shirt, pulled out a stake, pulled her around to face him and stakes her as well.

"Angelus?" the blonde vamp asked staring at Liam, then turned to dust. Liam looked confused, then looked down at the heart-shaped locket left in his hand from pulling her around.

"I can't believe I didn't get any." Delia complained sheathing her sword. "Wish I got that one that got away." She looked at Liam who held the necklace in his hand. "What is it?"

"I think dad knew her." Liam said looking at her.

…

At the Hyperion, Angel had finished explain to everyone about his and Darla's last meeting with James and Elisabeth. How she wanted the locket that they now had and how Holtz found them.

"I was young…it was 1767 Marseilles," Angel said looking at the locket. "Darla and I were running from Holtz. He'd found us, again, because of Elizabeth and James."

"James?" Gunn questioned curiously.

"Elizabeth's lover," Angel answered before sighing. "Though they were as close to in love as you can get being soulless…not obsessive like Spike and Dru were, but really in love…they truly cared about each other. They were possessive of course, but all vampire relationships are like that. James and Elizabeth just seemed to go beyond that. They'd do anything for each other, but Darla and I didn't think anything of it. I only gave them a century, Darla gave them even less. All four of us killed the Count de Leon, and burnt down his villa. We were running from Holtz, the vampire hunter that was after us, trying to get to the docks and hop a ship to Morocco."

"What about the locket?" Wesley asked, unable to keep his curiosity in check any longer.

"We were on our way to the docks when Elizabeth saw it in a store window. She mentioned it, and of course, James wouldn't deny her anything so he stole it for her."

"Ah, the romance," Cordelia muttered with a small smirk from her place on the couch.

"That's what Darla and I thought," Angel nodded. "We just didn't understand them or their relationship, but anyway, after James had stolen it, the Holtz and his men came, and James sent Elizabeth with Darla to the docks while James and I stayed behind to deal with them. I wasn't too thrilled."

"Who is?" Liam said.

"So James and I are waiting for Holtz to come, but then they all started to scatter. James thinks we just scared them off by standing up to them, but I didn't think so. Not five seconds later Holtz and his men had us surrounded…" Angel trailed off, absorbed in his memories.

"Angel." Buffy said. He didn't respond.

"Dad." Liam said.

"Then what?" Gunn interrupted, enraptured with the tale.

"Huh?" Angel asked distantly, memories of Holtz slowly fading away as reality came back into focus.

"What happened with Holtz?" Gunn pursued curiously.

"Oh, that's another story," Angel diverted.

"We got time."

"I'm not sure we do." Wesley said.

"No, because James and Elisabeth had the big, forever love." Cordy explained.

"If he's still around and he finds out who killed her, he'll want revenge." Delia pointed out.

" 'If' he's still around and if they're still in love." Angel corrected. "That was a long time ago."

"Yeah, two hundred plus years and the girl is still wearing the locket." Buffy said.

"Moms right." Liam said. "If Elisabeth was her in town, James isn't too far behind. He'll come after me."

"You mean 'me'." Angel corrected.

"No. Me. I look like you dad. I could pass off as your twin. You and mom can go back to Sunnydale and I'll be you here in LA. No one will tell the difference."

"Except maybe Wolfram and Hart." Delia said.

"Maybe. But I can so pass off as dad."

"I don't think we have to time to discuss whether or not Liam and can pass off as Angel at the moment." Wes said. "We need to confirm that James isn't a threat. Gunn and I'll hit the streets, see what our sources can tell us."

"Uh-huh. See?" Cordy said. "We have sources now."

"Oh, you're almost like real detectives now." Buffy said.

"Hey!" Gunn said.

"Just kidding."

"You should probably check it out." Angel said. "James really lived for that girl." Gunn and Wes nodded and left the lobby. Liam tunred back to the gang.

"So yeah." He said. "I can so pass off as dad."

They had spent the better part of last night debating whether or not Liam could pass as Angel. Liam even started acting like Angel and made a very good impression of him. It was so convincing that when the two walked around crisscrossing each other, neither Delia nor Buffy could tell whose man was whose. After the discussion, Buffy and Angel decided to leave and let Liam and Delia take over on the case.

…

…

The next morning, Delia walked onto the balcony overlooking the lobby of the Hyperion and stopped looking down at the lobby. She remembered some fun times she had training in the hotel in the future and the times he spent with Liam before and when they dated. But then another memory came to her.

…

"_Hold up. Quiet." Bill said. They were on the balcony overlooking the messed up lobby below. They heard noises and looked down. A pair of snarling demons came out of the shadows looking for the source of the voices they heard._

"_Demons in the lobby below." Collin said. "Switch 'em off?"_

"_Roger that." They opened fired on the demons below. They were dead in seconds. "Head west to the street! Go!" They moved down the steps and out to the front garden. As they got out to the Street, a group of soldiers came in from the right. "Hold fire! Friendlies approaching!" It was Graham's team. It also looked like he picked up a number of slayer squads. Bill went and joined up with him. _

"_Didn't really expect to see you guys again." Graham said._

"_Anybody hit?"_

"_We're good!" _

"_What's the sit-rep?"_

"_Crows got Wolfram and Hart locked down. They're kicking our ass! We can't get through!"_

"_Just keep 'em busy. We'll find a way in." Graham nodded and went with his team. Bill rejoined his. "Ok. Graham and his men will keep the Crows busy. We'll go around them and get into the building."_

"_How?" Collin asked._

"_Stealthily."_

"_Not much of a plan." Delia commented._

"_Hey! I'm making this up as I go." Bill turned and followed Graham and his men._

"_That's not reassuring." Danni said. They all followed behind him._

"_Target building up ahead! Push forward!" They saw the Wolfram and Hart building in front of them. It was the only building in all of Los Angeles that wasn't damaged. But that wasn't what caught most of everyone attention. It was the beam of energy that was emanating from the building into the sky, causing the darken red skies. Whatever caused the apocalypse to start, it started at the Wolfram and Hart building. Demons and the Crows army were stationed at the entrance and on the streets. They engaged them. Crow members fired their weapons while the demons came out and brutally attacked whatever was fighting them. Though, Graham's men put up quite a fight. What really got the demons on the ropes were the slayers. They wanted payback for the surprise attack on their bases across the world. They fended off enough demons and pushed forward towards the building. Suddenly, a building began to crash down on the immediate forward of the team. _

"_Ah, shit! The whole fucking building's coming down!" Collin yelled. "Get out of the way!" The building collapsed across the entire street and crushed the forward tanks and a number of soldiers. A piece of debris fell near Delia and she blacked out._

…

"Delia." Delia came out of her daze and looked to Liam who was behind her. "What's up?"

"Just can't believe that this was once so empty and then hundreds of girls lived here." Delia said.

"And then a guy." Liam said standing next to her.

"There were tons of other guys here."

"Yeah. But none of them was ever as charming as I was." Delia laughed. "I remember you kissing me at that New Year's Eve party."

"Well, I wanted you to ask me out and I saw how nervous you were. So I thought I make easy on you."

"Thanks for that."

"You're welcome. But when you change the future, change it so that you ask me out earlier."

"No way. I love that moment. I wouldn't change it for the world."

"Aww. How sweet." Delia leaned and kissed Liam who kissed back. They stayed kissing each other, until Liam heard a growl and moved Delia out of the way as he was thrown back against the wall.

"Why'd you do it?" James said as he grabbed Liam and threw him over the balcony. Liam landed with a thud. James jumped down and towered over Liam. "Why'd you do it Angelus?" he grabbed Liam, picking him up and dealt a fee punches to him. Liam gathered himself and blocked a few blows. They exchanged a few punches then James sent Liam flying into the lobby. "Because I had something you could never have?" Delia peered out from the balcony, seeing the fight that was raging below. Fred stepped out into the open hallway, on the opposite balcony, looking down into the lobby.

"Liam?" She said. "I thought I heard company. I came out of my room. Small steps, like you said." Liam stopped choking James to step back to where Fred can see him.

"Go back to your room and stay there!" Liam ordered

"Okay then." Fred turned and left. James and Liam resumed their fight. Delia came down the steps and saw a fire extinguisher. She picked it up and hurled it at the back of James head.

"Stake please."

"On it." Delia said and went to the weapons cabinet. She opened it and found a stake. She turned aback and tossed the stake to Liam, but James intercepted the stake and attacked Liam with it. "Oops."

"Whose side you on?" Liam asked James tried to push the stake into Liam's chest.

"You never loved anyone - or anything." James said. "Go to hell." Suddenly, a hand was on James shoulder and Delia spun him around, punching him in the face. Liam swept his legs out from under the already off balanced vampire, grabbed the stake James had dropped, and stuck it in his chest.

"You first." James didn't turn to dust though. Liam and Delia were surprised. Liam attacked James again and kicked him out through the glass doors into the sunlight streaming down into the garden court. James landed in a patch of sunlight and they waited to see him catch fire…except he didn't.

"Shouldn't he be on fire?" Delia asked shocked as she came up to Liam's side. Liam hustled her towards the basement.

"Let's get out of here." They quickly descended the ladder into the sewers. They ran together down the tunnel. They kept running until they reached a fork, and Liam pushed her in the direction of the right-hand fork. "Go that way."

"Where are you gonna go?"

"Go!" Delia went down the tunnel. Being in the sewers wasn't new to her. She did it all the time for training and patrols and missions. One particular mission cmae to mind.

…

_Delia came to and saw darkness. Everything she was hearing was muffled and echoing. Her hearing and vision recovered and she looked around. She was in the sewers. Bill came over to her._

"_You alright?" he asked helping her up._

"_Yeah. What the hell happened?" Delia asked._

"_Crows planted a bomb in the building when the army got to close." Collin replied._

"_I shielded us just in time for us to get to the sewers." Danni added._

"_What about Graham and his team?" Delia asked concerned. Danni looked down sad. Collin didn't look at Delia. Bill looked solemn. _

"_Nothing we can do for him." Bill replied. Delia felt a wave of sorrow hit her. Bill placed a hand on her shoulder. "We need to keep moving. I just contacted Dawn and she said that all forces are pushing on Wolfram and Hart. They'll be too distracted to deal with us. This is our window." Delia composed herself and unsheathed her sword._

"_I'm ready." She said. Bill nodded and withdrew his daggers. Collin pulled out his crossbow from his back and clicked it off safety. _

"_Let's move." They all went down the sewer tunnel to get under Wolfram and Hart. It wasn't anything new to them. They all went into the sewers for training. They fought demons in tight corners. But it was still more dangerous than ever because they were entering into the belly of the beast. Bill stopped them and down at his data pad. "According to this, we are right under Wolfram and Hart."_

"_So how do we get in?" Delia asked. _

"_Danni." Bill moved out of the way as Danni raised her hands. There was a rumbling noise and then some cracking. A small square chunk of the ceiling slowly came down. Danni floated it to the side and they looked up. It was a small square hole that led into Wolfram and Hart. Bill tossed up a canister and smoke started to appear in the hallway above them. Bill was first up. He scanned the hallway and signaled the rest to follow. After all of them got in to the hallway, Danni used her magic to place the square chunk back where it fit. It didn't seem like anything happened to the floor. _

"_Now what?" Collin asked. Bill looked at his data pad._

"_The records room is two floors above us."_

"_Do we blast again?" Collin asked. _

"_No. We'll sneak our way in. Don't use the elevator. Use stair wells and keep out of sight." They all nodded and headed for the nearest stairwell. They walked down the hallway and found a stairwell at the end. Collin opened the door and everyone went through. They walked up two flights of stairs and exited through the door that led to the records room. Records room sure had changed in the past thirty years. Instead of filing cabinets, there were hard drive towers in glass rooms with codes running down the glass. At the end of the room was a circular cylinder like glass space with an opening. They went to it and Danni stepped. Everyone else stood or kneeled, watching out for any intruders._

"_Alright, placing uplink." Danni said. A screen appeared before her. Danni used her hands to move the screen and images around as she searched. "Search: Apocalypse." A number of files came up and then the number of file began to grow._

"_A little to broad there Dan." Delia said._

"_Right. Cancel. Search: Apocalypse. Timeline: Recent." She received no matches. "Dammit."_

"_We're missing something." Collin said. "Try Buffy's death."_

"_Ok. Search: Buffy Summers death. Keyword: Apocalypse." She got something. A single file came up and opened. A picture of a gold orb was in the background. A picture of Buffy came up and with a red X on it and the word eliminated came up underneath. Angel's picture came up and he too had the X and the label. All of the Scooby gang and Angel Investigations member's pictures came up and had the same thing. X's and eliminated labels. The only ones that didn't were Dawn, Liam and themselves. "Oh my god." A map of the world with location markers where Slayer bases were came up and had labels saying eliminated. _

"_They planned it all for twenty years." Bill said eyeing the file. The picture of the orb came up with the label 'Orb of Danzalthar'._

"_What is that? "Collin asked._

"_Don't know. But we don't have time to analyze this stuff now. Danni, download a copy and let's get out of here."_

"_Roger that."_

…

Delia came out of her memory when Liam came up behind her and opened a door in the side of the tunnel.

"Del! This way. Hurry up!" He said.

"What did you do?"

"Lead a false trail. Now go." Liam pulled the door shut behind them.

"Alright, I've been doing this for a while." Delia said. "Don't stakes through the heart and sunshine kill you guys?"

"He seems to have become..."

"...invincible?"

"Let's not exaggerate."

"But he can't die the normal ways.

"I know. Now be quiet," Liam said as he strained to listen to anything out of the ordinary. "I think he took the bait." Suddenly, a loud rumbling filled the air and the ground began to shake, causing Delia to yelp and throw her arms around Liam.

"Earthquake!" Lima rolled his eyes as the shaking stopped and looked down at Delia amusedly.

"Subway."

"Oh…" Liam looked around before shrugging and resting her head on his chest with a sigh. "I knew that." Both of them jumped and Delia lets out a small scream as Liam's cell phone suddenly rang. "Jeez!"

"Sorry, sorry, cell phone."

"You actually got one of those? What happened to the one from our time?"

"Got destroyed. Hello?" he answered his phone.

_"Liam, is that you?"_ Wes said on the other line. _"Can you hear me?"_

"Huh? What? Say that again?"

_"There is something you have to know about James."_

"Oh. He's invincible, is he? He went to a what? Slog demon?" he looked to Delia. "Some kind of doctor demon that collects rare organs." He went back to the phone. "Cut out his heart?" Back to Delia. "Can't be killed." Phone. "Wait. What? - How long? Six what? What? Hello?" he looked down at his phone. "Dammit. I hate this old technology. No signal. Okay. The guy's invincible, but it only lasts for so long then he dies."

"How long?"

"He said... I don't know. Six minutes, hours, weeks."

"That's good news. So all we have to do is, is wait him out."

"Right. So we just wait here until we're sure." With a big crash James burst through a door a ways down from them. Liam hurried Delia back out into the tunnels. "Del, up here!" Liam and Del pushed through the people crowding the stairs to the subway platform just as a train pulled up. James came down the 'up' escalator, pushing people out of his way. Liam pulled Delia through the open doors into the train. The doors closed in front of James nose. As the train pulled out of the station Delia, clinging to Liam's back, stuck out her tongue at James.

"Phew," Delia took a deep breath before resting her forehead against Liam's chest. "Do you want to double back?" she asked after a few seconds. "He won't be expecting that. What do you—"

"Ssh," Liam interrupted, looking up at the ceiling of the train. Delia followed his gaze.

"You've got to be kidding." Suddenly, Liam pushed Delia aside just as James came crashing through the roof, causing the train car's passengers to erupt into screams of shock and fear. Liam immediately planted himself between a set of passengers and Delia did the same.

"Get back," Liam told them. The space was simply too confined for all three of them to fight and keep everyone safe. James watched the exchange curiously and saw how Liam was protecting the passengers and a little bit of the dark haired girl.

"Well this is a new twist in an old snake," he observed. "Is it possible you care about someone who isn't you?" Liam glances back at Delia.

"Don't worry about her."

"But if you've changed. If you aren't the same man who screwed Darla and couldn't care less what happened to her. So you might feel something when I snap her neck."

"You could try," Delia offered lowly.

"Lucky me," James smirked looking at Liam. "Now I can kill the woman you love."

"No you can't," Liam shook his head. "She won't let you."

"Are you forgetting who's the invincible one here?"

"I left her after our wedding. She survived a month without me. I'm pretty sure she can survive you. James looked at Liam skeptically.

"You really loved someone enough to marry them?" he asked dubiously. "And then leave her?"

"Yeah," Liam answered softly. "I had to leave, so that I could accomplish a task that would let us have our perfect future."

"No. You did it for yourself. If you did love her, you wouldn't have left her. You wouldn't have left the one you loved."

"But he did." Delia said. "And so did I." James looked at her. "I will never forget." Delia remembered what happened to her family.

…

"_OK we got the file." Bill said. "Let's get outta here before…." He was cut off as the door burst open and crow members came in with guns. Danni instantly put up a shield as they fired on them. "We need to find a way out."_

"_Got any ideas?" Collin asked loading up his crossbow._

"_Just one." Bill took out a grenade. "Danni, when I saw now, drop the shield." He took the pin out of the grenade and let it cook. "NOW!" Danni dropped the shield and went to cover as Bill threw the grenade. As it landed on the floor in front of the crows, it detonated, killing the group. They all went out from cover and went for the door, going over the pile of dead bodies._

"_We need to make it to the streets." Delia said. "Once there, we'll have a better chance at making it out alive."_

"_But how?" Collin asked. "The entire place knows we're here now."_

"_I won't be able to teleport us." Danni said. "They'll know where exactly we are if we do."_

"_Then we'll just have to walk out the front door." Bill suggested. "Or maybe a window." They all looked at him with confused expressions. "Follow me." They followed him up a flight of stairs to the main offices of Wolfram and Hart. "They'll have the front door sealed off. As well as any other door. So we'll make one of our own."_

"_How?" Collin asked._

"_Improvise."_

"_Look! Over there." The turned and saw Crow members. They fired at them. The four ducked into an office. Luckily one with a window._

"_Found our way out." Bill said. "Danni, block the doors." Danni held up her hands and reinforced the doors with magic. "Delia." Delia walked over to the window and unsheathed her sword. She slashed at it twice, breaking the window completely. "Remind me to compliment Liam on his handy work with that thing. It's awesome."_

"_Thanks" Delia said sheathing her sword._

"_Collin." Collin walked to the edge of the window and twisted his ball cap around. He loaded an arrow into his crossbow and took aim. He fired at the street below. The arrow had a rope attached to it and embedded itself in a wall on the opposite street. He turned and fired again at the wall of the office, finishing off the zip line. Bill grabbed the file from Danni and gave the thumb drive to Delia. "Take this and go."_

"_But, what about you guys?" Delia asked._

"_Never mind. We'll be right behind you. But if not, you have to make it. Out of everyone here, you're the most likely candidate for Liam to trust after this." Delia looked uncertain. In the time that she had spent with Bill, Danni, and Collin, they had all become her family. She didn't want to leave them. _

"_Bill, I can't."_

"_GO!" he ordered her. He took a zip hook from Collin and gave it to her. "We'll be right behind you."_

"_Not until…" the doors started giving way. _

"_They got some sorta witch with helping them." Danni said. "I won't be able to hold much longer."_

"_Del, go." Bill ordered. Delia hooked herself up and looked back at the three. _

"_You're right behind me?" Delia asked. Bill nodded. Delia turned street side and zipped down. Bill turned to the door with Collin and Danni._

"_What now?" Collin asked loading his crossbow and turning his hat again._

"_Distraction." Bill answered. "If she doesn't make it, none of us will." Bill took out his grenade belt. "Danni, any time now." Danni nodded and let down the enforcement shield. Bill pulled the pins off the belt. _

…

_Delia zipped down to the street and landed with a thud. She turned back, just in time to see the office that she zipped from blow up. She gasped in horror. She didn't see any of her friends come down with her. She couldn't believe that they were dead. She gazed at the fire the new engulfed the office that she was just in as a tear ran down her face. She heard snarling behind her and saw a group demons come at her. She ran down the street. She looked all over at the devastation of the city. She was looking for a working means of transportation. She found a discarded and damaged motorcycle. She revved it up and rode off. She rode through the streets, hoping that maybe her friends somehow made it out. She kept hoping all the way to the army checkpoint at the edge of the city. There she met up with Dawn and Sam and briefed them both on the events and discussed the containments of the file. Delia didn't tell them what her plans were. All she told them was that they had a plan after Liam left and she was going to follow through with it._

…

Delia came out of her memory and attacked James. She lands few good punches. James hit Delia sending her sliding back towards Liam and a male passenger standing by the door, leaning on a pair of crutches.

"Catch him!" Delia said.

"Catch who?" Liam asked. Delia pulled the crutches from under the guy's arms and Liam barely kept him from falling. Delia flipped to her feet and, with one crutch under each arm, faced James.

"Come on!" James attacked and Delia caught his arm with the crutches and used their leverage to twist James around and press him up against the wall. "How's that, invincible boy, huh? - Is that your idea of love, James, hmm? It's not real unless it kills, you?"

"Yeah, what's yours?" James shot back, pale, sweaty, and in pain. "It's fun as long as it doesn't cost me anything? You don't know what love is!"

"Yeah, I do," Delia replied. "Love is living, honoring their memory."

"You think you won?" James said looking at Liam, shaking his head as Delia released him. "Just because you're still alive? I lived. You just existed." he argued casting one glance at Delia before he exploded into dust. Delia just stood there staring down at where James was. Liam came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

…

Delia finished telling the story of how she got the intel and the apparent deaths of the rest of Liam's family, with tears in her eyes. Liam stood up in front of her, looking at her. He hadn't moved or cried through the entire story. He just stood solemnly looking at his crying wife.

"Why didn't you tell me when you came back?" Liam asked.

"Because, a million different things kept happening." Delia said crying. "You coming back to life, you being a pure vampire, our honeymoon." Liam sat next to her and hugged her. "I just didn't want to burden you with more bad things in your life."

"Hey, hey, hey. You are not burdening me with bad things. Yes, it's bad, but you're the one in tears. You're the one that's hurt. You took care of me throughout all of my heartaches. Let me help you through one of yours. I think it's about time I did that in this relationship." Delia smiled and leaned into his shoulder.

"I now know how you feel when you said you could have done something different."

"I know. But like a wise woman once said. The only thing we can do is move on from this experience." Delia smiled again.

"I said that to you."

"Yes you did. You helped me. Now I'm going to help you." They leaned back on the bed and Liam held his wife, occasionally placing kisses on her head, comforting her. While it was extremely sad for both of them that their family died in the future, Liam loved moments like the one he was sharing with Delia. Where they did nothing but hold each other and kissed occasionally.

**What do you think? We are going into Angel canon instead of Buffy canon. Hope you like it. There will be some Buffy canon. I might do something with Halloween, but I don't know yet. Comment and Review. Stay tuned.**


	7. The Vision Thing

Chapter 7: The Vision Thing

**Nothing overly special. Typical canon with Liam and Delia instead of Angel. Warning: There'll be a point in the chapter where you will read 'Angel/Liam' or 'Liam/Angel'. It's all Liam playing as Angel. Just to help you out. Enjoy.**

Wes and Gunn were standing at the counter of the Hyperion, eating Chinese take-out right out of the boxes with chopsticks.

"No, Gunn, you misunderstand." Wes said. "I mean, I'm not saying that we act differently. I just think we should be gentle in our inter..." he cut himself off as Cordy entered. "Evening, Cordy."

"Hey, Cordelia." Gunn said waving his chopsticks and giving her a big smile. Cordy looked at them as she walked by. "How was that?" Gunn asked Wes.

"I felt quite genuine."

"B plus. C minus." Fred said. Gunn and Wes turn to look at Fred, who is sitting cross-legged under the folding table with her own box of Chinese takeout. "A girl can tell."

"Fred, if you feel comfortable enough grading our sincerity." Wes crouches down in front of the table, "how about joining us for the rest of the meal? Isn't that the point of coming downstairs?" Fred swallowed hard.

"I guess that'd be okay." Fred crawled out from under the table and joined them at the counter, picking at the food in her box with her fingers.

"Ah, I-I don't mean to rush you back into the twenty first century, but how about using some chopsticks." Gunn said observing her eating habits. "Or a fork, maybe." He picked up a fork and offered it to her. "You remember forks, don't you?"

"Sure." Fred took the fork. "Who could forget? Fork, pitch fork, fork it over, fork in the road. One I'm not ready to take yet." Cordy walked back through the lobby.

"Hello again." Wesley said.

"Nice day." Gunn said.

"I know what you're doing." Cordy said catching on to them.

"You do?"

"Told you." Fred said.

"You're being all fake nice and super-sensitive like 'poor Cordelia, she's on edge, because she hasn't had a vision in while.'" Cordy said. "Well, I have information for you. I look forward to my next vision."

"You do?" Wes asked.

"Well, why shouldn't I? I mean, the Powers That Be have seen fit to choose me. Who am I to refuse?"

"Great." Fred said. "How about if you use that vision thing to find out where Liam's at right now."

"Cause I don't care? And he's probably off with his wife."

"Ah, what Cordelia means is that she doesn't choose to have a vision." Gunn said stepping in. "The Powers send them to her when they got info to share."

"Think of them as gifts." Wes explained.

"Yes, having-my-head torn-open-and-hot-lava-poured-into-my-skull gifts." Cordy said. Fred looked from Cordy to Wes and Gunn.

"Excuse me." They all turned to the voice. A man in a suit walked into the lobby carrying a briefcase.

"Oh. Hi. I'm sorry I didn't hear you sneak up on us." She looked down at his shoes. "Must be those tastefully expensive Gucci Loafers." She sighed. "Totally our fault."

"He's not a client." Wes said cautiously as he rose from the table. "He's Gavin Park, attorney with Wolfram and Hart."

"Pleased to meet you." Park said. He saw Fred. "New player?" Wes walked over to stand in front of Gavin, blocking his view of Fred, not liking him looking at her.

"Well, now that we've had this lovely reintroduction, I suggest you piss off."

"Is there a problem?" Liam and said walking in with Delia behind him.

"No, no problem. Mr. Park was just leaving."

"Good." Delia said glaring at Park and crossing her arms. Park eyed her and saw the broadsword on her back.

"Another new player." He said and raise an eyebrow. "Interesting. And actually, I just arrived." he reached into his briefcase and withdrew some papers. "This is a list of fifty-seven city code violations for your hotel, including earthquake proofing, asbestos and termites." He tossed the papers on a chair. "Be advised, I filed a copy of this with the city planning office."

"Gee, fifty-seven." Liam said sarcastically. "Is that a lot?"

"I'll be in touch." Park said after a moment and walked up the stairs to leave.

"Yeah, okay." Cordy said. "Minion of darkness, Satan's toady, but that is a 'nice' suit. Did you see that suit?"

"Looked better with a noose around his neck." Liam said and looked to Fred. "Fred! Good to see you out and about."

"It is, isn't it?" Fred said. "Out and about." She leaned to Liam. "I've been forking with Gunn." Delia snorted and Liam looked at Gunn, eyebrows slightly raised with an amused smile.

"You're right Liam." Delia said. "I like her. She's rea….Ooo, Chinese." Delia rushed over to the counter with Chinese food and started digging through a box. Liam smiled at her.

"Girl loves her Chinese." Gunn said looking at her. "And that's my box."

"Delia loves Chinese food." Liam said. "Back in the future, most of our dates were just us eating Chinese takeout."

"Serious?"

"She preferred it." Liam shrugged and looked to Delia who was eating Gunn's food and smiled at her. The smile vanished as Cordy started screaming. She was getting hit with a vision of some clawed demon thing. Liam and Wesley manage to catch her before she fell to the floor. "Are you alright?"

"There is a coin." Cordy gasped. "And, uhm, two clawed things, it's in China town I think. A herbalist's shop." Wes and Gunn headed for the books.

"Anything else?" Delia asked. She dropped her Chinese box and went over to help Liam bring Cordy up, but when she put a hand on her left shoulder, Cordy jerked away with a gasp.

"I'm okay. I'm fine. It just caught me off guard a little." Liam looked warily at her, then at Delia. "Ah, go find the coin. It has a hole in it." She started to walk away. Liam just stood there, looking after her.

"Thinking of something?" Delia asked.

"Maybe." Liam said looking at her. "First Suits walks in here, then Cordy receives some nasty vision."

"Think there's a connection?"

"Well, you know how I feel about coincidences."

"Don't believe in them."

"Yeah. Something's up. Just don't know what."

…

Wes was standing in front of a table loaded down with books. Fred was pacing behind him reading a thick phone book.

"Anything of interest yet, Fred?" Wes asked.

"Oh, sure. Lots." Fred said. "'H' is a fascinating letter. Helicopters, helium, helmets, hernias...'"

"Did you happen to notice 'herbs' in your wanderings?"

"I did." I did she said with a big grin. Wes just looked at her. "Oh, right. There are, ah, lets see... five herbalist shops in Chinatown."

"We got a name or face for these things yet?" Liam asked walking in.

"Circling." Wes said. "I think we might be looking either at a Wan Shan Dhole or a Cantonese Fook-beast." Gunn walked in carrying a baseball bat and with a backpack slung over one shoulder.

"I say we figure out what these things are after we find that coin." He said. "We're burning moonlight."

"Sounds like a plan." Delia said coming in and sheathing her broadsword.

"Hey, Fred?" Liam said. "I need you to do something for me." Fred gave him a huge smile.

…

Cordy was in the bathroom taking a couple of aspirins. She took her shirt off and turned to look at her left shoulder blade in the mirror. There are three claw marks there and she had claw marks around her abdomen. Liam knocked on the closed door of the bathroom.

"I told you, it's about finding the coin." Cordy said.

"It's me." Liam said.

"I'm fine!"

"I'm not leaving until you open the door. I mean it, Aunt Cordy, open up." Cordy hesitated at the sound of 'Aunt Cordy.' It was the first time she heard it and she loved it. She smiled slightly and put her shirt back on. She opened the door and gave Liam a bright smile.

"Aunt Cordy? You're calling me Aunt Cordy?"

"You're family." Liam said smiling. Then his smiled dropped. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah. Fine!" Liam stopped her from closing the door again.

"They're bad, aren't they? I was told how painful the visions can be and I've noticed that they've gotten a little worse."

"I'm feeling better. Once I get a little protein in me, I'll be good as new. Honest. Now, go declaw those things!"

"I've asked Fred to take you home."

"I don't need to go home."

"There is nothing else you can do here. Just, get some rest, okay?"

"No..."

"O-kay?"

"Okay." Cordy sighed, "Man, you are Angel and Buffy's, aren't you?"

"I got his persistence and her stubbornness." Liam said with a smile. "Now, rest."

"Ok." Cordy said closing the door.

…

Liam sat in the back of Wes' car with Delia next to him. Gunn was driving and Wes was in the passenger seat. They were driving down the dark streets of LA.

"Five herb shops in Chinatown and we've been to four." Gunn said. "How come whatever we're searching for is always in the last place we look?"

"I supposed it is one of the unwritten laws of being a 'dick.'" Wes said conversationally, causing everyone in the car to look at him. "Ah, a sleuth, a gumshoe, Sherlock."

"All I know is you use the word 'dick' again and we're gonna have a problem."

"Seconded." Delia said. "So what is the name of this place anyway?"

"Van Hoa Dong. It should be up there on the left." Wes turned to Liam. "How was Cordelia when you spoke to her?"

"She said she was fine." Liam said. But he had a look on his face that said 'I don't think so.'

"You don't believe her?"

"Alright, here we go." Gunn said as stopped the car just down the street from the herb shop. "Next time we're hitting the last place first."

In the shop a white-haired older gentleman was measuring out some powder. A woman brought him another jar as Liam, Delia, Gunn and Wes walked into the store. The woman looked up and saw Liam.

"Your kind not welcome here!" She said.

"Since when can't a brother buy some ginseng tea?" Gunn said.

"Not you." The man said and pointed at Liam. "Him! Vampire not welcome!"

"This is a public facility and any being may enter." Wes pointed out. "We're looking for an ancient coin." The Chinese couple exchanged a look, then both let out a scream and flipped over the counter, landing in a martial arts stance.

"Ah, so you think some fancy flipping and a little hollering can intimidate guys like us?" Gunn said. Suddenly their hands turn into long, gray claws.

"Okay, that creeps me out." Delia said.

"You two take grandma." Liam said. "Del and I'll take the old man."

A big fight ensued during which, Wes managed to knock grandma over the head while Gunn kept her distracted with his sharpened wooden baseball bat. Delia and Liam attacked the old man. Both of them dodging or deflecting the old man's clawed attacks. Delia kicked the old man in the chest, sending him stumbling back, and Liam didn't give him time to recover, punching him in the face, sending him sprawling on the ground. However, faster than Delia would have thought possible, the old man flipped up to his feet, ready to fight anew. Liam attacked first, sending a quick one-two combination that the old man defended against. Delia, not wanting to hurt the elderly couple too bad, dealt a roundhouse kicked to the old man's chest. He stumbled back more. Liam grabbed the old man's scarf that hung around his waist, and yanked it hard, causing the man to spin into the shelves behind him and fall to the floor unconscious due to the impact.

"Damn." Gunn said panting. "Grandma and grandpa got game."

"Yeah, I know." Wes said. "Now if we could just find that coin before they come to."

"Guys. Over here." Delia said. She reached down and snapped the leather necklace holding the coin from around the old man's neck and held it up to the light. "Though it would be smaller."

…

"A demon." Cordy said. "An icky, boil-covered demon." Cordy was sitting next to Liam on the edge of her bed, more than anything trying to hide her own icky, boil-covered face with her hair. Gunn, Fred, Wes, and Delia were standing by the door, looking at her. "A storefront downtown on the corner of fifth and something. And there was a key. I should probably draw you a picture of the key."

"Aunt Cordy." Liam said. Cordy started to get up, but Liam pulled her back down and gently pushed the hair back from her face to reveal the boils she'd been trying to hide.

"Oh, god." Wes said.

"Cordy, we should talk about this. You can't ignore what's happening."

"I don't wanna talk." Cordy said sounding a little horsed. "What's there to say? Except 'gross' 'yuck' and 'unclean.'" Cordy looks at the others, who avoid meeting her eye. "Like you're not thinking it."

"Has this ever happened before?"

"Just leave me alone, ok? I'll be fine."

"You're not fine."

"Just stop, ok! Stop acting like Angel. You maybe his son, but you're not him. So just stop." Everyone was silent at Cordy's outburst to Liam. Liam just stared at her with a determined look.

"You're right." He finally said after a beat. "I'm not him."

"That's right. So just stop."

"I'm not him. I didn't live for a hundred and fifty years killing people and being 'The Scourge of Europe.' I didn't live another hundred years with a soul feeling guilty for everything I've done. I didn't lose my soul for having a moment of perfect happiness, and I certainly didn't go to hell." Liam stood up. "But that doesn't mean a damn as to whether I should act like Angel." He said louder. "I care for people because I want to. Because I believe in being a good person. I've put my life on the line for people I could care less about, more times than I have for Delia. I care about everyone that is hurting. People I know, people, I've heard of, people I don't know at all. I care because I want to. This isn't me acting like Angel, this is me acting like Liam. A man who cares more for the next person on the street than he does himself." Cordy looked at him with tears in her eyes. Liam sat back down next to Cordy. "And I care a lot more for my family than anything." He said softly. "That includes you." A few tears fell down Cordy's face.

"I'm sorry." She said horsed. "I guess, I'm just not yet used to you being Angle's replacement."

"I could never replace him. No matter what people may saw, I could never replace my father. But I am second best." Cordy nodded her head. "Now, let me do what Angel does and help you. "Cordy nodded her head again. "Has this happened before?" After a beat Cordy pulled the sleeve of her sweater up to reveal one set of claw marks.

"Earlier tonight."

"Oh, whoah!" Wes said crouching down for a closer look. "Are you saying your vision had a physical manifestation?"

"Yeah."

"And did this new one have anything to do with..."

"The yuck monster?" She pointed at her face. "Yeah." Cordy looked past Liam and caught sight of herself in the mirror. She got up to take a closer look. "This must be a mistake. The Powers wouldn't do this to me on purpose, I mean, I'm a part of their team. Why would anybody do this on purpose?"

"I don't know." Liam said looking thoughtfully.

…

Liam came out of Cordy's bedroom closing the door behind him and joined the others waiting for him in Cordy's living room.

"We have to figure this out and now." He said. "Anybody? Gunn?"

"I had this auntie who used to get this nasty crusty stuff on the back of her neck every summer, turns out she was allergic to shellfish." Gunn said. Everyone was silent looking at him.

"That was helpful." Delia said after a beat.

"Why would the Powers choose to communicate with Cordy in this way?" Wes asked.

"Maybe we could ask them." Fred said. Everyone turned to look at her. "Y-you used the word 'communicate' which got me thinking - everything's made of energy, right? Light waves, radio waves, x-rays, even brain waves are all electric energy. If Cordelia is receiving visions from the Powers That Be they're being communicated somehow. Maybe we could figure out the frequency and trace the calls."

"Yes. Of course." Wes said sounding impressed. "Well done, Fred."

"Have I mentioned how much I like this girl?" Liam said smiling at Fred.

"Hope you're not thinking about leaving me again." Delia said with a smirk.

"Not in the slightest. But I really do like Fred. She's smart for her age. She kinda reminds me of you."

"She does, doesn't she?" Delia said looking at Fred with a smile.

"I do?" Fred asked smiling.

"Yeah." Delia said. "Except I'm a biologist and you're a physicist, and I'm a slayer…"

"May we please get back on topic?" Wes asked. Everyone stopped talking. "Thank you. Now, Gunn, I need you and Fred to go to the hotel and get me some books. I'll make a list. We need to research that Chinese coin. Liam, Delia, you both find that demon and get the key."

"How will this help Cordy?" Liam asked.

"Cordy's had two visions in the same night. If the Powers That Be are taking such extreme measures we have to assume that the coin and the key are of great significance. Trust me. I have an idea."

…

Delia rode her motorcycle with Liam behind her. They drove down the street and stopped at a street corner. They both got off.

"I kinda liked what you said." Delia said before they went in.

"What?" Liam asked turning her.

"What you said about you caring more for the next person on the street than yourself. And how you care for your family more." Liam looked down and then back up at her.

"I have sacrificed more for half the world then I have for you."

"I don't mind." Delia shrugged. "I know why and I can take care of myself."

"But it doesn't seem fair to me to put others needs before my own wife's." He said coming closer. "To me, you are my world."

"Thanks." Delia said smiling. "But you are someone who cares a lot about people. You're selfless. Maybe a little selfish at times, but selfless none the less. And I love that most about you." Liam smiled at her and kissed her.

"You are really wonderful. I'm glad you came back." She smiled at him.

"We have a key to find." She said getting back to why they were there.

"Right." Liam said facing the shop and getting serious. Delia pulled out her sword. They both kicked open the door to the store and walked in. "I want my key and I want it now." Liam told the terrified store clerk, who remained frozen and silent.

"Now, please." Delia said raising her sword up.

"Oh?" the clerk finally found his voice, though it was shaky. "W-which key might that be?" The man turned on some more light and Liam and Delia looked around the store at walls covered with keys and blanks used in the duplication of keys. "Did you lose the original?" Liam pulled out Cordy's drawing of the key and handed it to the man behind the counter.

"Ah, it looks like this." He said.

"Ah. Yes, of course. This should only take a moment." Both Liam and Delia looked at each other, getting a feeling that something was going to happen. The man reached one hand under the counter. A buzzer sounded and a boil covered demon dropped down behind the couple swinging a sword. Delia blocked the sword with her own as Liam engaged the demon. He grabbed it and spun it around. Delia swiped and the icky, boily demon's head rolled by her on the floor. She casually put the blade of her sword to the clerk's throat.

"Like I said. Key, please?"

…

Liam and Delia got back to Cordelia's apartment and knocked on the door. Almost immediately it was opened, revealing Wesley.

"How's Cordy?" Liam asked.

"Ah, we're finding that out now," Wes replied. "Did you get the—," he trailed off as Liam dropped the key in his palm. "Great," Wes finished. Liam walked past Wes into Cordy's bedroom to see her lying on the bed with Lorne sitting beside her.

"Ah. Well if it isn't Mr.-Back-from-the-grave-and-nobody-bothered-to-tell-me." Lorne said sarcastically.

"Sorry Lorne." Liam said. "A lot of crazy things kept piling up."

"It's alright AJ. But you're just in time. Would you talk to this young lady? She's resisting the process."

"Process?" Delia asked coming in with Wesley.

"Ah, and who's that charming young thing?"

"Delia Winters."

"My wife from the future." Liam added. Delia looked at him. "What? He knows about me."

"Well isn't that just a delightful surprise. We have a Mrs. Future here."

"Lorne, mind outta the gutter. What's this process that Cordy's refusing to do?"

"Oh, my idea." Wes said. "The host reads people's auras to set them on their path. In some shape or form that connects him to the Powers That Be. I'm thinking..."

"Sure." Liam said. "He might be able to reverse the process. That he might be able to use Aunt Cordy in order to trace the call back to the Powers."

"Way outside of my area of expertise, I should caution." Lorne said. "But hey? Who knew William Shatner could sing?" He laughed but no one else did. "Okay, bad example." Lorne got up to make room and Liam took his place on the bed.

"Was it there?" Cordy asked. "Because I'm gonna be really ticked off if I'm all," She pointed at her face. "Phantom of the Opera and there wasn't a key."

"It was right where you said." Liam said.

"Oh, good."

"Why don't you want Lorne to try and trace the visions?"

"It's not like I'm morally against letting a demon into my subconscious for a quick lookee-loo. Hey, might be fun. But with the Powers That Be doing this whole 'book of Job' thing, the last thing I want is more noise in my head."

"Maybe he can make the noise stop."

"Yeah." Cordy sighed

"Isn't that what you want?"

"Yes! No. Well, no. Sure I hate looking and feeling like this, but - if I lose the visions, I wouldn't be able to help anymore. You wouldn't need me."

"So you'd pretty much be a cheerleader version of Xander Harris. Who I know for a fact, saved the world in the future, all on his lonesome, just by being himself." Cordy was a shocked at what he said.

"Really? 'Sunnydale, I dated for a bit, Xander Harris'?"

"The very same. And I would take a perfectly healthy Aunt Cordy who could kick ass without visions, then an Aunt Cordy who's killing herself with them." Cordy smiled at him. "Aunt Cordy, I love you. Let us try and help. Okay?"

"Okay." Cordy said smiling. Liam and Lorne change places again.

"Alright, princess, like I told you earlier." Lorne said. "You shouldn't even feel a thing. You ready?" Cordy lied back into her pillow and closed her eyes with a sigh. Lorne put his hands on her temples and closed his eyes, too. "Now, I want you to relax. Picture yourself outdoors, in a field, or on a mountain."

"I like the mountains."

"Beautiful. Say you're on a mountaintop, and it's warm. The sky is blue, full of big, fluffy clouds. You're Julie Andrews in 'The Sound of Music.' And you're relaxed and you're spinning and the camera is swirling and - ouch!" Lorne recoiled from Cordy. "Careful, honey, you've got some power of your own!"

"Sorry. All the spinning and swirling was freaking me out."

"My fault, my fault. I just love that movie so much!"

"One note," Liam warned him. "And I will lock you in a room and make you listen to 'It's A Small World' for 24 hours straight."

"Okay. Not a fan of the classics I see. Aright. Ready to try again?" Cordy sat up a little higher in her bed. "Okay. Now let's go looking for the Powers That Be. See if we can reach out and touch someone." Lorne was massaging Cordy's temples with his fingers. Suddenly Cordy jerked as she was hit with another vision. Lorne was trapped in her mind as well, and finally, in a blast of energy, Lorne was thrown back into the wall, and a lamp smashed to the floor.

"Cordy? Cordy!" Liam cried worriedly, seeing his friend's now burnt arms due to her vision. Cordelia came to then, and blinked wearily. She looked down at her arms in dismay and shock before looking at Liam.

"What's happening to me?" she asked fearfully. Wes looked down at Cordy's arms that now look to be severely burned in the aftermath of the vision.

…

"Is Lorne gonna be okay?" Cordy asked.

"He's fine." Liam said. "He's unconscious, but he's fine. You're the one I'm worried about."

"Am I a bad person? Am I just a horrible person? Because I know I can be snippy sometimes."

"This isn't happening because you're bad. If anything it's because you're strong. Stronger than you realize. Dad use to go on and on about the Great Strong Cordelia." Liam said smiling.

"But I'm not. I know what I said earlier. But I don't want the visions anymore. I tried to be brave. I did. But I'm just scared now. I'm scared all the time." She did her best not to cry. "I mean look at me!" She held out her arms, then took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "What could be 'so' important that the Powers would do this? I don't understand." Liam had a thoughtful face. Then it clicked.

"It's not them" he whispered. The door opened and Wesley stuck his head in.

"Liam. I really think you should hear this." Liam nodded and got up. He looked back at Cordy.

"Everything's going to be fine. I'm sure of it." Cordy didn't look any better. Liam turned and stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind him. They walked into the living room where Liam saw Lorne lying on the couch, with Fred crouching beside it and Gunn sitting on the arm of it. Delia was sitting in the armchair. "Let me guess. The vision aren't from the powers." Everyone but Delia had the same surprised look.

"How did you know?" Fred asked.

"Oh, sure, AJ." Lorne said. "Steal my thunder. Next time 'you' can be the one that gets thrown across the room."

"How did you know that it wasn't the powers?" Wes asked.

"Because: One, the powers aren't that cruel. And B) Cordy gets these visions right after a certain someone in a nice suit walks into the Hotel."

"Wolfram and Hart." Delia said.

"Are you saying someone's hacked into Cordy's head?" Gunn asked.

"Transmitting false data through the celestial pipeline." Lorne said and looked to the married couple. "You guys knew before you called me here?" Liam and Delia looked at each other.

"It was….more of a theory." Liam admitted.

"Yeah well, next time, let's go with your hunches instead."

"Sorry Lorne." Delia said sympathetically.

"It's ok I guess. Just make sure you let us know about your little hunches."

"Will do." Liam said. "In the meantime, I have to go see my lawyer." He made his way to the door.

"Wait." Delia said standing up. Liam stopped and turned to her. "You can't go."

"Why not?"

"The eyes." Liam looked confused.

"What about my eyes?"

"They're not Angel's." Liam got it then. "Wolfram and Hart will note the difference and figure you out."

"Oh. Right. Guess will have to get Angel then."

…

Lilah was sitting in front of her computer in her office.

"Concentrate!" She said to herself. She clicked the mouse. She was playing a game on her computer screen. A golfer hit the ball into a water hazard. "Ah, damn it."

"Gosh." Lilah jumped in her chair. Angel stood by the open door. "Jeez, I hate traps. Don't you? I was gonna knock, but you seemed too focused, I hated to interrupt."

"How-how did you get in here?" Angel went to sit down in the chair on the other side of her desk.

"Oh, you mean, why didn't the vampire alarms go off? Your college, Gavin, he - helped me out. College, mortal enemy, however you guys play it around here. So, can we get down to business? I think you might be looking for these." Angel held up the Chinese coin and the key, then tossed them on Lilah's desk. "What do you think?"

"I think - you might be right."

"Good. Then we're done here. He gets up and leans on Lilah's desk. "You got what you wanted. Now it's over." Angel turned to leave.

"Actually - it's not over." Angel stopped. Lilah slid the key and coin across the desk. "And you'll be needing these to complete your mission." Angel turned to her.

"There is no mission. You and me - we're through."

"That's where you're wrong." Lilah said getting up. "We're just getting started. There's a young man who's been unfairly imprisoned and - you're gonna save him. Isn't that what you do? Save people?" She indicated to the key and coin with her chin. "You'll need those to complete your mission."

"I see. I do this for you and you stop sending Cordy the killer visions."

"No. You'll do this for me because I tell you to." Lilah walked up to Angel with a smile, gliding a hand from his chest around to his back as she circles him. "I know what you're thinking. Yes. You could kill me now, but then you'll never be able to stop the visions. Just for the record, those little skin problems on what's-her-name weren't intended. Just an unfortunate little side effect." Angel's right hand suddenly shot out and he grabbed her by the throat, pulling her face close to his.

"Her name is Cordelia, and you 'will' help her." Angel let go of Lilah and Lilah put a hand up to her throat, breathing hard and shaking slightly. Angel had taken a step away and turned his back to her. He let out a deep breath. "So, where is this jail?" Lilah smiled and walked up behind him.

"This is exactly why I chose you for the mission, Angel. I needed a man of character, a champion of good, a warrior, and I needed someone who could travel in and out of a fortressed demon dimension."

Angel walked out of Wolfram and Hart a few minutes later. He walked a little bit before ducking into an alley. Delia was there, leaning against a wall.

"So, did she buy it?" Delia asked. Angel took off a charm around his neck. His eyes went from brown to green. He was Liam. Liam leaned against a wall with his fist and then punched it hard, leaving a sizable whole. Delia straightened up.

"Yeah." Liam said. "She bought it."

"What happened?"

"I can definitely pass of as my dad. If I don't go to some demon dimension and get someone who is imprisoned there, the visions will keep coming. And even afterwards, the visions will keep coming."

"So what are we going to do?" Liam straightened up and looked at her.

"We make a plan."

…

Wesley was sitting at his desk looking at the markings on the coin through a magnifying glass. Liam and Delia walked in.

"How is Cordelia?" Wes asked.

"Fred and Gunn are looking after her." Liam said. "You figured it out?"

"I think so. Something you probably won't like to hear is that both artifacts are considered objects of good."

"Oh. So the Chinese guy and the boil guy..." Delia said

"Were also aligned with the forces of good."

"Damn! 'So' hard to tell in this time period. You know, they should wear lapel pins or something. Maybe we can change that."

"Well. In the meantime: the inscriptions on the key and the coin match. They actually work together to transport you in and out of the other dimension."

"I don't suppose we know what this other dimension is like - I mean, besides fortress-y and demon-y."

"Well, based on the burn scars Cordy received from the last vision, I'd imagine fire is not out of the question."

"Fire." Liam said, not sounding too thrilled.

"And if the young man is imprisoned, I'd imagine there may be guards."

"Guards." Liam sighed before turning and leaving the room, heading for the weapons cabinet with Delia and Wesley following.

"I don't need to explain to you that if Wolfram and Hart are behind this mission it can't be good." Wes pointed out as Liam sorted through the weapons. "Just because Lilah tells you this man is wrongly imprisoned doesn't make it so."

"You're right," Liam said as he held up two different swords, deciding.

"Or that helping them totally goes against everything you stand for," Delia added.

"I stand for my family." Liam said as he chose the sword on the left. "If that means helping out evil, then so be it."

"Ok then, so then I don't need to convince you to let me go with you," Delia said quickly, knowing that Wesley had been about to offer. Liam spun around and pierced her.

"No."

"But—"

"No."

"I could—"

"No." Liam shook his head. "You're not going to Hell," he said seriously.

"I've already been to one."

"Del, I love you more than air." Liam said coming over and kissing her forehead. "But I am not going to let you go to hell with me. The only people I'll allow to go to hell with me are the evil kind. Now," Liam took out his glamour charm and put it on. His eyes turned from green to brown in a second. He was now Angel. He held up the coin and key to Wesley. "Show me how it works."

"I believe it's fairly simple." Wesley said taking the items. "Ready?" Liam nodded. Wes inserted the key into the hole in the center of the coin. "This should take you there and bring you back." Wes turned the key and little metal bars sprang out from the ends to lock against the coin. Giving it a good twist, Wesley tossed it to the floor where it spun on one end like a top, creating a swirling little vortex of smoke and light.

"You sure I can't come with you?" Delia asked.

"Take care of Cordy." Liam said. He took a deep breath and stepped closer to the spinning key. The ring of light and smoke expanded to include him. Liam's image became smeared and translucent then he and the spinning key disappeared with a small flash of light, while the sword, dagger and mace that Liam had just armed himself with clattered to the floor.

"Of course, because it would be too easy if he could actually defend himself," Delia muttered.

…

Liam materialized in a darkened chamber. There were skulls worked into the stone walls behind him. Liam looked at his empty hands then checked his belt.

"Sure. Because it would be too easy if I could actually defend myself." Liam said to himself. He took a step forward and his foot kicked the key. Liam bent down to pick it up. "At least I got the key." He stuck the key in the inside pocket of his coat He spotted a doorway to a room lit by fire at the bottom of a flight of steps and slowly walked towards it. As he entered the room he saw a man engulfed in flames inside a burning cube. A bronze-skinned demon stepped up behind Liam. Liam sensed it and turned to face it.

"Hi." Liam said.

"Hi." The demon said. "You know you're not supposed to be here, right?"

"Yeah I know. And quite frankly, I don't want to be here. But what about him?" he indicated to the man burning in the cube.

"Oh, him? Oh, he's supposed to be here. Do you have any idea how monstrous a guy has to be before he gets sent to us? We're a 'very' high-end institution."

"And it's your job to keep him here."

"Yeah." The demon offered his hand. "I'm Skip." Liam took the offered hand and they shook.

"Li…" Liam stopped himself. He was passing off as his father for all of their cases to fool Wolfram and Hart. That also meant for demon dimension. "Angel. So, ah, you live in here, Skip?"

"No. I commute. It's not too bad - about twenty minutes."

"Uh, what keeps him in the fire?"

"My will."

"Nice. How come he's not screaming in pain?"

"Oh, he is. My will prevents him from being heard. I mean there is only so many 'oh my god! The pain! Please make it stop!' that you can listen to before it starts to bug the crap out of you."

"I see your point. By the way, awesome." Liam smiled. Skip sniffed the air and turned to Liam/Angel.

"You're a vampire, right?" Liam nodded. "How come it smells like you work for the Powers That Be?"

"Cause I do." He said with a shrug.

"And you're here to try to - rescue this guy?" Liam nodded again. "But we're on the same side. Shouldn't you be helping to keep him in here?"

"I know. I know. Long story. Involves family. I don't like it any better than you do."

"So I really can't talk you out of this."

"Sorry. I wish you could. I guess we just have to agree to..." Skip's fist connected with Liam's jaw causing him to try and rub the pain away. "…disagree." The two of them fight. Skip knocked Liam to the ground, and Liam morphed into his demon, and jumped back up resuming the fight. Liam managed to kick Skip backwards towards the burning cage. The burning guy inside reached out and grabbed a hold of Skip's shoulders, trying to pull Skip into the cage with him. Flames lick at Skip's back as he struggled to get free. Liam stood there watching. Then morphed back to his regular self and ran forward. He pulled the hands off Skip's shoulders and swung Skip away from the cage.

"Skip, are you okay?" Skip nodded. "Good. Sorry about this." With that Liam hauled back and knocked Skip out. The flames and the burning cage disappeared, revealing the naked, soot smeared man at its center. Liam walked up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, hauling him up to eye level. "Buddy, this is the luckiest day of your life." Liam punched him hard, knocking him out. "Don't make me regret it."

…

Back in Los Angeles at night, two limousines were parked in a spillway. Lilah was pacing between them, checking her watch occasionally. The headlights of a car and a motorcycle came towards her and she smiled as she saw Angel/Liam in the back of Wes' car. Angel/Liam and Wes were sitting in the front, Gunn and the guy Liam rescued were in the back. Delia rode her motorcycle to the meeting. She had her broadsword over her back.

"You know what to do if anything goes wrong?" Angel/Liam asked.

"Pop goes the weasel." Gunn said.

"And make it a good one." Liam/Angel got out of the car and walked towards Lilah. Lilah motioned towards the limousines and five or six burly bodyguards stepped out. Angel/Liam motioned and Delia came with him.

"To be honest, nobody at the firm thought that you could do it - except me." Lilah said. "You're a remarkable man, Angel." She eyed Delia as she glared at her.

"Yeah, and you're an evil bitch." Angel/Liam said. Delia smiled a little but kept her glare. "Let's finish this. Take care of Cordelia - you get your guy." Lilah walked to the back of one of the limos. The window slid down revealing a guy wearing fez in the backseat. Angel/Liam looked at Delia who blinked. He turned back to Lilah. Lilah talked to the fez-guy and the window slid back up. Lilah turned back to Angel/Liam.

"This should only take a moment." Angel/Liam turned to look at his new team and Wes pulled out his cell phone. After a minute, Wesley opened the car door and got out. He motioned to Angel/Liam with the phone. Gunn got out as well as the guy Angel/Liam rescued, his hands bound with thick rope in front of him. Angel/Liam watched as the guy walked past him and to the open door of one of the limos. The guy propped his arms on the open door to let one of the bodyguards cut the rope while smirking at Angel/Liam, then got in the car. "It's just business." Lilah said.

"Right. Just business." Angel/Liam said. Lilah walked towards the limo on the right. Liam held up his hand and snapped his fingers. Delia unsheathed her sword and swung it in an arc, sending it hurtling through the air with lightning fast speed. The sword whistled past Lilah to smash through the back window of the limo and through Fez-guy's head. Lilah looked back at Angel/Liam then took a couple of steps closer to the car to look at the Fez-guy slumping dead in the backseat. She jumped when Angel/Liam was suddenly right there speaking softly into her ear. "Don't you come at me through Cordelia or anyone of my team ever again. You play that card a second time and I'll kill you." Delia walked up and took her sword back. It was surprisingly clean. Lilah watched as Wes drove his car over and Angel/Liam got into the passenger seat. Delia walked to her motorcycle and revved it up. They all drove away.

…

After they got back to the hotel, Liam took off the charm and went up to his room. He entered and plopped down on the bed and fell back, giving off a sigh. Delia came in behind him and looked at him.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah." He said will uncertainty. "I'm just worrying a bit about that guy I set loose."

"Whoever it is," Delia said coming over and lying next him. "We'll fight him if he causes trouble. And we'll do it with our new team."

"Our new team?" Liam said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. I know that they can never replace any of them, but they're good."

"That they are. Gunn's all muscle and likes to go into a fight. Reminds me of Collin a bit."

"And Wesley is smart and is pretty good in a fight himself. Reminds me of Bill."

"And then, there's Cordelia. Strong, beautiful…."

"Better watch what you say next Summer's." Delia warned.

"Reminds me of Danni."

"And Fred reminds you of me."

"Yeah." Liam looked to her. "But I'd rather have the originals then replacements."

"I heard that." Liam looked back towards the ceiling and his smile faded. "What's up?

"It's just, this isn't stuff we should be worrying about." Liam sat up. "We should be looking for that orb."

"And we'll find it." Delia sat up as well and placed a hand on Liam's back and began rubbing it. "But we also have to deal with the stuff that's happening now." Liam nodded.

"Let's just hope that we don't always have to go to hell dimensions and save someone who deserves to be there."

"Agreed. This we'll be story to tell your parents."

"Oh. I don't plan on telling them anything. I'll just say that Cordy was in danger and I saved her."

"No." Delia reached for the phone. "I know your parents and they'll want details and specifics."

"Oh, no you don't." Liam reached and grabbed Delia before she could get to the phone. "They can handle not knowing about this one." He laughed. He started to tickle her and she laughed.

"No. Stop it." She laughed. Liam stopped and reached up and kissed her. She kissed back. This was a great for the both of them. At the end of each day, they can come together and be with each other. Unlike what they had to go through in the future.

**Here endeth the chapter. What do you think? Like I said, typical canon. Send me a few ideas about what you may want to be the next episode and what you may want to have happen in that episode. Or any episode. I want to try and make everyone happy. I'm open to anything. Comment and Review.**


	8. Swappers

Chapter 8: Swappers

**This is my own Halloween episode. It will have some elements form the original episode, but not much. Most is going to be my own work. I bet you guys can guess as to what the chapter will hold because of the chapter title. A familiar character reappears. Also so that no one maybe confused, you will read what a character says something but will have (…) next to them. This indicates who is actually saying the line through what body. Ok, just gave away what the chapter pretty much holds. But anyway, Enjoy.**

It was morning at the Summer's house. Willow and Tara were in the kitchen making breakfast. Liam and Delia were in Sunnydale for that week following Cordy's vision problems. Angel had gone back to LA to help out with Fred. Some of the Scooby Gang were excited for Halloween. One, because they could dress up and go to parties. Two, it was usually a night off for everyone. Liam walked into the kitchen.

"Morning girls." He greeted his aunts. He received a morning from both of them. "So Willow, how's the magic control thing going?" he asked going to the refrigerator.

"Harder than I thought." Willow confessed. "I never knew how much I relied on magic. I had to stop myself form waving my hand, just to put toothpaste on by my toothbrush this morning."

"And from waving your hand to levitate your toothbrush to brush your teeth." Tara added. Liam couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Don't worry, Will." He said looking through the refrigerator. "If you can do it in the future, you can do it now." Liam shrugged and grabbed some blood. He had been drinking blood on a moderate basis to keep up strength and control his demon. He also drank it, just when he was feeling lazy about making a meal. He put the blood in a cup and started to microwave it. He turned to Tara. "Are you aware of anything?" he asked. Tara nodded.

"Willow told me after you went on your honeymoon. I was a little shocked myself." Willow looked a little sad.

"Well, sorry to drop a bomb that big on you guys, but I have really grown on Tara and want her in the future. And I want to make Willow happy. She is family." At this, Willow beamed a smile at him. The microwave dinged and Liam drank his cup of blood. He made a sour face after finishing it in a few gulps.

"Don't like blood?" Willow asked.

"It's ok. It's got an Ok after taste, but I'm just not use to it." Liam put the cup down.

"Hopefully, you'll never do." Delia said walking in. "Morning honey."

"Morning." Liam greeted her with a kiss. "So what's for breakfast?"

"Blood. If you want any."

"I think I'll stick with cereal." She moved passed him and got herself a bowl. They all heard the front door open and close.

"Hello." They heard Xander's voice. He came into the kitchen. "Hey guy. Is Dawn ready to go? We'll be late if she isn't

"She should be ready by now." Tara said.

"I'm here." Dawn said suddenly rushing into the kitchen with her book bag.

"Ok," Xander said clapping his hands together. "Dawnster and I are off to school and we'll meet you guys at the magic shop later."

"Ok" Liam said. "Now remember you two, if you have any trouble, just talk to the teacher." The woman in the kitchen laughed at Liam's joke.

"Ha Ha. Funny." Xander deadpanned. "But for your information, I graduated from school already."

"From high school. Dawn, whatever you do, follow your older self's example and go to college."

"College." Dawn said. "Four years away. Talk to you then. Gotta go be a freshmen." She and Xander walked out of the kitchen. They opened the front and were met by Buffy and Faith with Faiths hand ready to knock.

"Hey guys." Buffy greeted them both.

"Hey little woman." Faith said, punching Dawns arm playfully.

"Hey slayer sisters." Xander said. "Sorry to cut this short, but we have to go."

"I'll meet you guys at the magic box later." Dawn said.

"Ok, have a fun day at school." Buffy said.

"Did you ever?" Xander and Dawn left the house as Buffy and Faith walked in.

"Hello. Former residence in the house." Buffy said. She and Faith walked into the kitchen and met everyone else.

"Hey guys." Liam greeted coming over and hugging them both. "How are you mom?"

"Ugh. The last month is the hardest. My ankles are swollen, my back is aching, and everything gives me indigestion, I can't even…."

"So you're feeling great." Liam interrupted her. Faith snickered as she took a seat at the island. "Glad to know that you are coming along nicely." He rubbed her swollen stomach.

"She actually needed help getting off the couch this morning." Faith said. Buffy looked offended.

"I did not need help!" Buffy came over and sat next to Faith. "I was going to get off that couch."

"When? When the baby comes out?" Delia snickered at Faith's joke. Everyone else but Buffy smiled.

"Ok, can we move on from making fun of me too something that's not making fun of me?"

"Sure Buffy." Willow said. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"I actually wanna know what everyone's plans are for Halloween. Considering our previous Halloween fun times involved something supernatural in nature."

"Well, we agreed to help Anya and Giles out at the magic shop later today for the Halloween rush." Tara said.

"Ugh. Sounds like a lot of work for me. Not. A. Word." She warned everyone in case they had any puns about her pregnancy. Everyone was quite.

"Ooo. There's also this big party someone's throwing at the Bronze." Willow said. "Everyone can go so long as they're in costume."

"Ooo. Let's do that." Delia said excitedly to Liam. Liam looked to her. "It has been so long since I ever dressed up for Halloween."

"Do I have to dress up too?" Liam asked, hoping the answer was 'no'. Delia nodded. "No." Liam said immediately.

"Please, Liam."

"No."

"But—."

"No."

"If—."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Oh come on."

"Del, dressing up for Halloween was fun when I was a kid. But now, not so much. I see no point to it."

"The point is to have fun and dress up however you want and have no one laugh at you." Liam was about to retort. "And I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."

"Well you're gonna have to."

"OK," Delia said crossing her arms. "If that's the way you feel, then I'll have to make you."

"Uh oh." Both Buffy and Faith said together resting their chins on their hands in the same manner, watching the couple.

"Yeah, right." Liam laughed. "What could you possibly do to make me go costume shopping with you?" Delia smiled wickedly and raised an eyebrow. Liam suddenly felt scared.

…

Delia and Liam walked into a costume shop later that morning. Liam was not liking it.

"I hate you." He said to Delia.

"Sure you do." Delia said sarcastically, while looking through the racks. "This is our first Halloween together as a married couple, and even as a couple in general, where we don't have anything going on during this time."

"Just wait. With the Scooby gang, anything can happen on Halloween."

"But it would be fun to fight the demons in a superhero costume." She smirked.

"You put me in tights and I'll divorce you faster than it took me to ask you out."

"It took you seven months to ask me out."

"And it'll take me all of seven seconds to divorce you."

"OK, fine." She said looking a little irritated. "No tights."

"Thank you. And no food costumes."

"Fine." Delia kept looking through the ranks. "How about this?" she pulled out a black knight's costume. "I think it fits your personality." She said smiling. Liam crossed his arms and looked at the costume nodding.

"Next." He said. Delia sighed, put the costume back, and continued searching. "This is degrading."

"You only have to wear it once, and you can even dress up as something normal." She pulled out a costume from the rack. "Like a police officer." She held up a police officer's costume.

"Delia, you know what my relationship is like with every LEO in the future. I'm usually chased by them. I don't think it would be appropriate to dress as someone I run from." Delia gave him a sour look and put the costume back.

"You know, I could have just come alone and picked out your costume."

"I wanted to make sure you didn't pick something I would look like an idiot in. And plus you threatened me with telling my mom about my year after dad died. Not a pretty sight or story."

"Oh come on. It wasn't all that bad."

"I smoked, drank, did drugs, and prostitutes. In just that one year, I became like my father when he was human. That would actually be something my mom would flip over now."

"But you stopped doing all those things after you met me and I understood when you told me about it."

"I told you because I didn't want to lie and keep secrets from you."

"Like that you still smoke?"

"Hey, it's only for a big victory after an apocalypse."

"But you know what she'll do to you, so find a costume and let's be done with it."

"Fine." Liam sighed. "How about, we split up and search the store. Whatever we find, we bring to each other and vote."

"Fine." Delia turned and went off down an aisle. Liam turned the other way and looked down another aisle for a costume. Why did he have to come to Sunnydale this week? He wouldn't have mind to stay in LA and deal with demons. But good sons don't say no. He was looking through a rack when he heard Delia's voice coming towards him. "Liam, Liam, I got it." She came to halt in front of him with a costume in hand and smiling. "I've got the perfect costume. And the best part for you is, we only have to buy one, and you already have most of your costume to go with it in your closet." Liam smiled gleefully at her.

"Great." He said. He was just glad he didn't have to wear a costume. "What is it?" Delia showed him the costume and he eyed it with a raise eyebrow. "Wow. I'm liking it." He smiled.

"And yours will look just as good." Delia said with a smile.

…

Liam was finishing buttoning up his shirt. He was wearing black slacks, a white button shirt, black shoes, and a black vest. He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled.

"At least I can wear mostly black." He said to himself. He checked himself before stepping out of his bedroom into the hallway. "Aright, I'm ready." He called to Delia who was in the bathroom.

"Ok, I'm almost done." Delia said.

"You know I have to say, I'm really reconsidering the whole dressing up on Halloween thing."

"Really?"

"Yeah, if it means dressing up like how am tonight, I think I'm willing to make an exception."

"Then you'll want to dress up every year after you see this." Delia stepped out from the bathroom and Liam's jaw immediately hit the floor. Delia had chosen to go as a Flamenco Gypsy dancer and have Liam be her male dancer. He saw the dress in the store and liked it, but when he saw Delia, she was absolutely beautiful. She wore a red and black flamenco dress. It was off the shoulders and was shorter on the one side. It had frills at the bottom of the dress. Her hair was tied into a flamenco style bun and she had a red cloth flower attached next to it. She unfolded her matching hand fan and held it front of her face. Liam stood there in frozen shock at the sight of his wife. She came over to him and closed his mouth. "You didn't have that reaction at the store."

"You weren't on the picture." He said.

"So you like?" she said stepping back and twirling, her dress floating up as she spun. Liam nodded. She laughed at his gawking. "You look good yourself. But we should probably just…." She moved forward and unbuttoned two buttons on Liam's shirt, exposing more of his chest.

"Is that really necessary?" he asked looking a little uncomfortable.

"It looks hot."

"It looks gay."

"But not when you're with someone like me." She said smiling at him. "Come on, we don't want to be late to help Giles."

"Del, we can be late. It's Halloween. It's the busiest time for the shop."

…

Liam wasn't wrong. When they entered the shop, they saw that it was filled with customers, including many laughing children. A lot of people were in costumes and were buying items of the shelves. Anya moved through the store on roller-skates. She was wearing a very short candy-striped shorts, a red blouse, and Farrah Fawcett hair. Giles was working the cash register, wearing a wizard robe. Faith was helping him behind the counter packing bags. Xander, dressed as a pirate, was talking to some children, while holding a jar. Buffy was sitting at the table looking through ha magazine. She looked up as Liam and Delia entered and eyed the dress Delia was wearing. She tried to get up, but had a little trouble. Liam noticed this and went over to her.

"Buffy, Buffy, its ok." He said reaching her. "You don't have to get up."

"I just wanted to come and greet you." Buffy said. "And I wanted to compliment you guys on your costumes. You look very handsome."

"My idea." Delia said coming over.

"And you look very beautiful."

"Thank you." Delia did a little curtsey. Dawn walked across the store, dressed normally. She spotted Liam and Delia and went over to them.

"Whoa! What are you guys supposed to be?" She asked.

"Flamenco gypsies." Delia said unfolding her fan.

"Gypsies? You mean like the kind that cursed Angel?"

"Sorta." Liam said. Dawn looked at Liam and eyed his costume with a smile.

"Whoa. You look really…."

"You better watch what you're going to say next Auntie." Liam warned.

"I was going to say….handsome."

"Sure you were." Liam raise an eyebrow.

"Dawn, why aren't you wearing a costume?" Buffy asked.

"Like I'm six years old? Halloween's so lame."

"And finally someone agrees with me." Liam said smiling. Delia elbowed his chest. He rubbed where she hit him.

Willow was on the other side of the room holding up a book on witchcraft.

"I'm just saying you might wanna rethink the stereotype before someone turns 'you' into a toad." She said angrily to a woman in a traditional Halloween witch costume. Hooked nose, pointy black hat, warts, etc. The woman looked annoyed, grabbed the book, and walked away. "And while you're at it, why don't you try removing that broomstick from your…" Tara appeared behind the witch, approaching Willow. "Tara!"

"Hey." Tara said. "Don't stop the invective on account of me."

"If I see one more idiot that thinks witches are all hairy moles and rotted teeth…" A little girl came over in a tiny little girl dressed in a similar witch costume.

"Excuse me, do you have any candy corn?" she asked.

"Oh, look at you!" willow said looking at the girl. She kneeled by the girl. "You are just the cutest thing!"

"What was that about the stereo?" Tara asked smiling.

"I know, but look, with the hat, and the, the wart!" Willow smiles at the girl. "Oh! Let's go fill your tummy up with sugary niblets, okay?" Willow lead the cute little witch away. Tara watched with a smile.

Anya skated over to Faith who was carrying a large cardboard box.

"We're running low on mandrake root." Anya stated. "Check the basement." She skated off. Faith went down into the basement to look for the mandrake root. She reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to go around them, just as Spike emerged from underneath them.

"Oh!" They both jumped in surprise, then sighed.

"Bell. Neck. Look into it." Faith said.

"Come with a nice leather collar, does it?" Spike said back.

"What are you doing lurking down here?" Spike held up a handful of vines.

"Running low on burba weed. Stir it in with the blood. Makes it all hot 'n spicy."

"Were you going to pay for it?"

"Says the woman whose motto was 'Want. Take. Have'."

"Hey that was a long time ago."

"I know. So was me drinking human blood and being evil."

"You still are technically."

"Yeah. But I'm workin' on it."

"I know." Faith smiled and kissed Spike. "Now I need your help."

"Little between shifts shaggin'?" He said with a cocked eyebrow.

"No. Where's the mandrake root?" Spike looked around and moved toward a shelf covered with jars.

"Um ... here." He took down a jar. "Only three to a jar." He gave the jar to Faith. "Tend to ... go a bit wonky if you cram them too close."

"Thanks."

"Feel like a bit of the rough and tumble?"

"Spike!"

"Me ... you...patrolling?"

"Oh. Uh ... Not tonight. It's that time when evil actually takes a break. I kinda wanna do the same."

"To some maybe. But then there was that time that everyone turned into their costumes."

"I wasn't there for that."

"Great story though. But if you wanna…Great Pumpkin's on in twenty."

"Can't. Gotta help with the store." Faith turned and startled heading up the stairs.

"Hey." Spike called to her. She stopped and looked at him. "When are we going to reveal our thing to the group? I mean, Liam told us and he backs us up, he might even stop them from making fun of us." Faith thought about it.

"How about tonight. After the store closes. I can tell them and it can be out there."

"Sounds good." Spike said smiling. "Just be sure to tell Liam before you tell the rest. Just so that he can be ready to defend us when everyone yells blasphemy."

"Ok." Faith smiled and went up the stairs.

…

The shop run ended and Dawn stood at the door waving to the last customers out.

"Come again!" she said laughed weakly. She closed the door and leaned against it with a grimace. "Uhh! In a zillion years." Xander was lying his head on the table with Giles leaning in a chair. Buffy was on the other side of the table still looking through a magazine. Liam and Delia were sitting on the steps next tot Faith who was lying on her back. Willow and Tara were in chairs nearby. Everyone felt tired. Everyone except Anya who was behind the counter.

"That was the most incredible thing I have ever experienced." She said gleefully. Xander lifted his head to look over at her. "Except for that." Dawn walked across the room to join Anya behind the counter. "What you all did for me tonight ... the astounding heaps of money you helped me..." Giles cleared his throat "...us acquire. All I can say is, I hope we make as much tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Faith asked in dismay.

"Oh, post-holiday clearance. The cornerstone of retail." Everyone groaned. Giles got to his feet with a grimace.

"Brooms all around, then." He said.

"Or I could whip up a jaunty self-cleaning incantation, it'll be like Fantasia." Willow said.

"Yes, and we all know how splendidly that turned out for Mickey." Giles gave Willow a broom and dustpan.

"I think I'm a little more adept than a cartoon mouse."

"Still doesn't mean you should do it." Liam said eyeing Willow. Willow bowed her head. She was really having a hard time with not using magic all the time. Faith sat up and leaned into Liam to whisper in his ear.

"Hey, can I tell you something?" Faith asked.

"Sure."

"There's something I need to tell you." Faith felt a little nervous telling the person that showed her to someone that she loved that she was in a relationship with them.

"You didn't kill anybody did you?" Liam joked.

"What? No. It's more about me and a certain someone that we all know and don't really trust all that much."

"You and Spike are together now."

"How did you know?" Faith was surprised. She and Spike never gave off any signs that they were together.

"Because I showed both of you your wedding day and I got you here to meet each other. Kinda obvious at this point."

"Ok. The thing is, we want to tell everyone but, we aren't sure that we'd get a lot of approval."

"Just tell them and have Liam defend you guys." Delia suggested. "He could regale the stories of how Spike and Faith saved and took care of him."

"Yeah." Liam said in agreement. "I can defend you guys."

"Great, thanks." Faith said hugging Liam. "And by the way, you look really hot in that. "She indicated to his costume. Liam rolled his eyes while Delia giggled. Xander was watching Anya teaching Dawn a money dance by the cash register.

"I'm gonna marry that girl." Xander said softly. Buffy heard this.

"What?!" she said looking in the direction he was looking in. "She's fifteen and my sister, so don't ev-" then she got it. "Oh."

"Hey, everybody." Xander said standing up. "Can I, um ... uh ... there's something Anya and I ... wanna tell you." He walked over to the counter. Anya came to his side, holding a stack of paper money.

"Now?" She asked quietly.

"Now." Xander put his arm around Anya's shoulders, turning to face the rest of the gang. "We're getting married."

"Oh my god." Dawn said smiling.

"Congratulations!" Tara said.

"Well it looks like your announcement may have to wait." Liam said quietly to a shocked and disappointed Faith.

"Yeah I guess." Faith said a little sad.

"No way." Delia said. "This is a time a celebration of couples. Faith and Spike should have their moment too." Liam looked to Faith for her opinion.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I don't want to steal anyone's big moment."

"Like I said." Liam said. "I'll back you guys up." He gave her an encouraging nudge. Faith got up and walked over to the couple.

"Congratulations." Faith said to them.

"Thanks Faith." Xander said. "I mean it." Faith nodded to him.

"I'm happy for you guys. And I'm hoping you could be happy for me too."

"We are happy for you." Anya said. "You've made considerable progress on not being a killer."

"Ahn." Xander said.

"No its ok." Faith said. "I kinda take it as a compliment. But I was also hoping you could be happy for me about something else."

"Like what?"

"Everyone." Faith said to the rest of the gang. "I also have an announcement."

"Are you getting married too?" Willow asked.

"No. But maybe someday. It's actually about me falling in love." Faith looked down and then back up. "I have already." She said smiling.

"You have?" Tara asked.

"You mean the whole falling in love, head over heels, using your heart, love?" Xander asked.

"Yes." Faith said. She was fiddling with her fingers because she was so nervous. "I know that I've done a lot to you guys, a lot that isn't good. But you've accepted me back. I know you guys can never fully forgive me for what I've done to you, but I'm hoping you guys can be ok with him. He's really nice and loving when you give him a chance."

"Well who is he?" Dawn asked excited. She had really started to love Faith like another older sister. They had hung out on numerous occasions and had even taught her some fighting moves, with the approval of Buffy.

"Well…" Faith began. She was really nervous. "It's…..Spike."

"What!?" Came a number of gasps. Liam and Delia smiled.

"Finally." Buffy said looking relieved. "I am so glad that it's out there now."

"You knew?" Faith asked.

"Yeah. You and Spike may have been silent. But Angel could smell the sex on you guys." Liam and Delia burst out laughing. Faith looked to them a little surprised.

"I'm sorry." Liam said to her composing himself. "That was just funny." He got up and went over to Faith. "I'm happy for you Aunt Faith." He hugged her. She hugged back smiling.

"Wait." Xander said. "You knew they would be together?"

"Not just together, married."

"Spike and Faith are to be married in the future?" Giles clarified.

"Yeah. Church, tux, dress, everything."

"Oh my god, that's great." Dawn said hugging Faith this time. Faith smiled even more. "I love you and Spike."

Really?" Faith asked.

"Of course. You guys are great."

"They are great." Buffy said getting up with Delia's help. "And I am happy for you." Buffy hugged her sister slayer. Causing Faith to smile more. She was really being loved by people who care about her.

"Excuse me for just being so shocked." Xander said. "It's just really surprising to hear that Faith and Spike be together."

"It is for all of us." Tara said.

"You got a problem with it guys?" Liam said stepping forward. "Get over it and be happy for your friends. Both of them I believe have proven themselves to be valuable allies and good friends. You should congratulate them on falling for each other." The rest of the gang looked chastised at Liam's statement, but they were none the less were moved by it. Faith and Spike had really proven themselves. They had really changed. The rest of the gang came over and congratulated Faith on finding love like Buffy and her family did.

…

Everyone went back to the Summers' house to celebrate Xander and Anya's engagement and fait hand Spike's falling in love. Faith had called Spike over to join in on the celebration.

"I can't believe you're getting married." Buffy said walking over to Xander. "You."

"Says the woman who is married and expecting." Xander retorted.

"Hey, I was only in Ireland for like a month. And then I had to deal with morning sickness and all that." She defended.

"But I was dead." Liam said joining the conversation. "I knew that something's would happen but I feel like I missed a lot. What else have I missed?"

"I got a tattoo." Dawn said walking in with a bowl of snacks.

"Now? But I though you got it when you were 20."

"What?!" both Buffy and Dawn said shocked. Liam laughed at their expressions. Both of the Summers girls looked annoyed.

"Sorry. Just wanted see your reactions." Liam and Xander smiled at the joke. Buffy and Dawn didn't.

"We have to go." Delia said coming over.

"Go? Go where?"

"The party at the Bronze." Delia said. "You said you'd take me."

"But wait." Buffy said "Now we're celebrating and…"

"It's ok." Xander said. "We're cool, so long as they bring extra gifts for the reception."

"You got it." Delia said a dragged Liam out of the house.

…

Liam and Delia entered the Bronze later. Music was being played. Various people were in Halloween costumes dancing. They saw couple dancing close together, dressed as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.

"Do they know they're brother and sister?" Liam asked.

"Did they in Episode V?" Delia said.

"Point." They laughed. A man in an Ozzie Osborne costume greeted them at the door.

"Hello, and welcome to my party." The man said holding up a bowl of candy. "Here, have a treat." He smiled a sneering smile. Liam noticed it but shrugged it off.

"What do you have?" Liam asked looking into the bowl. The bowl was filled with a candy called 'Swappers'.

"New thing. Try one." Liam and Delia grabbed some of the candy. It would taste better if you two shared a single candy with each other. Trust me." Ozzy smiled and turned to leave. The couple looked at him as he left and then unwrapped a single candy and both took half. They put the dark colored candy in their mouths and chewed. They were both surprised at the good flavor of the candy.

"Chocolate Mint Chip." Delia said.

"Cookie Dough Fudge Mint Chip." Liam said. They had both gotten their favorite ice cream flavors. "This is definitely candy to save for later." He put the rest of the candy in his pockets. "Wanna dance?"

"Sure." They both went onto the dance floor and began dancing with everyone else.

…

About an hour later, Liam and Delia came out of the Bronze, laughing and smiling.

"That was great." Liam said holding Delia by the side. "I really had fun."

"And you didn't want to come." Delia said smiling.

"I'm an idiot." They began to walk to the Summers' house to rejoin the rest of the gang in the celebration. They were walking, enjoying themselves, when they both felt a wave of dizziness fly over them. They used each other to balance one another. As soon as the dizziness came, it ended. They gathered themselves together.

"What they hell was that?" Delia asked holding her head.

"I don't know." Liam said. They both blinked a few times before looking at themselves with faces of confusion. They looked around their bodies and then they looked at each other, shocked.

"Liam?" Liam said.

"Delia?" Delia said.

They both screamed at the realization that they were in each other's bodies.

…

At the Summers' house, the rest of the gang were actually enjoying themselves with the celebration of the two happy couples. Xander, Anya, Willow, and Tara were dancing to some music. Faith and Spike were on the couch talking to Buffy and Dawn, who were both seated in the chairs opposite them. They talked about their relationship and where it might go. Giles came in with a cup of tea and sat down next Dawn on the arm of the armchair.

"Well I'm really happy for you both." Giles said to the couple. "While I am a little skeptical about a slayer dating a soulless vampire," Faith gave him a look. "There is evidence to say that it is for the best of both of you and that is good enough for me." He finished with a smile. Faith smiled back. Spike just grinned.

"So are you guys going to get married too?" Dawn asked excitedly.

"Whoa. Easy there nibblet." Spike said. "While we are to be married in the future, I'm not really comfortable with popping the question right now."

"Why not?" Buffy asked with a curious look.

"Well, we might tie the knot in someday, I'm just not ready for it, today."

"Neither am I." Faith said in agreement. "There is still a lot we need to discuss before we do that."

"Like, will it be worth it?"

"Oh, it is." Buffy assured them. "Just look at me and Angel, and at Liam and Delia." On cue, the front door burst open and Liam came walking through with a scowl on his. Everyone turned to him.

"You." He said pointing at Willow. "You are going to fix this, and you are going to fix it now." Delia walked in after him, carrying her heels in her hand.

"Hey, why don't we just calm down." Delia said.

"Calm down!" Liam yelled at her. "How can I calm down? I have hair on my chest and pretty sure in other places, and I am not going to spend the rest of my life tinkling standing up."

"Ok, guys don't tinkle. We piss."

"What were you saying about 'it'll be worth it'?" Spike whispered to Buffy.

"Ok." Buffy said getting up, with Dawn's help, and walking over. "What's going on?"

"Talk to your son." Liam said pointing to Delia. Buffy looked confused and looked to Delia.

"Yeah, hey mom." Delia said. Buffy stared wide eyed.

"Liam?" Buffy asked.

"Yep." Delia (Liam) said.

"Whoa." Faith said standing next to Buffy. "You getting a weird sense of de ja vu?"

"Yep." Buffy said.

"You're in each other's bodies?" Giles asked confirming his suspicions.

"Boy howdy." Liam (Delia) said looking frustrated.

"Wait." Xander said coming over. "How do we know that they are who they say they are?" Delia (Liam) rolled her (his) eyes and slapped Xander upside the head. "Ow." Xander rubbed his head. "That's Liam."

"Duh."

"How did this happen?" Willow asked.

"I don't know." Delia (Liam) said. "It just sorta happened on our way back."

"Did you run into anybody you think could've done this?" Tara asked.

"Not that I'm aware of." Liam (Delia) asked.

"Well, in order to deduce how this occurred, we will have to go through what you two did after you left." Giles said.

"Ok, we left and went to the party of at the Bronze." Liam (Delia) began and sat down on the couch. "We ate candy, danced, drank, and when we were walking home, the change happened." He (she) groaned in annoyance. "We never should have gone out."

"Told you." Delia (Liam) said while looking down a fiddling with Delia's breasts.

"Stop playing with my boobs." This caused everyone to look at Delia (Liam). He looked up at them while holding Delia's breasts.

"What? I'm a guy." They all looked at him. "You know what I mean." He let go of the breasts.

"Ugh. I need candy." Liam (Delia) pulled out the candy Liam had put in his pocket.

"What are those?" Dawn asked.

"Swappers. New candy. They're really good. It's better if you share one with another person."

"Can I try one?"

"Sure. You all can." Everyone moved towards the candy while Delia (Liam) paced and though. He stopped when something hit him.

"Wait, No!" She (he) said. But it was too late. Everyone had already eaten a candy. They all looked to Delia (Liam) who had a horrified look. Next, everyone, but Liam and Delia, felt dizzy and stumbled a little. Delia (Liam) managed to catch her (his) mother before she hit the floor. As quickly as the dizziness came, it ended. Everyone looked around at each other and then stared in shock at someone next to them. Buffy looked up at Dawn. Dawn looked at Giles. Giles looked down at Buffy. Xander looked at Anya who looked at him. Faith looked to Spike who looked at her. Willow looked at Tara who looked at her. Liam (Delia) understood and looked his (her) watch. He (she) held up three finger and put them down with each second. As the last finger dropped, everyone screamed. Everyone started talking and panicking at the new development. Delia (Liam) helped the shocked Buffy up and finger whistled for everyone to be quite. Every stopped talking at looked at her (him). "Ok, when I call your name, raise your hand. Faith." Spike raised his hand. "Willow." Tara raised her hand. "Xander." Anya raise her hand. "Spike." Faith raised her hand. "Dawn." Buffy raise her hand. "Giles." Dawn raised her hand. "Anya." Xander raised his hand. "Tara." Wallow raised her hand. "And Buffy." Giles raised his hand. Delia (Liam) sighed. "Ok, what I tried to warn you guys was," She (he) picked up a wrapper. "This is what caused us to switch bodies. And now everyone has switched with someone else.

"How did you come to that?" Dawn (Giles) asked in a British accent.

"Ok, that's just weird." Buffy (Dawn) said.

"Yes it is." Delia (Liam) agreed. "And to answer Giles' question," She (he) held up the wrapper and showed them the label. "They're called, 'Swappers'." Everyone understood now.

"So if we eat the candy again, we'll go back into our proper bodies without having try and figure out the sexual moves of the sex we're in." Xander (Anya) said. Everyone looked at him (her).

"Did anyone else find that weird coming out of Xander's mouth?" Giles (Buffy) asked with an American accent. Now everyone turned to look at him (her).

"This is getting too weird." Tara (Willow) said.

"How did you three swap like you did?" Liam (Delia) asked.

"Everyone split with someone else and Buffy and Giles and I thought three-way." Buffy (Dawn) said. She then held her back and groaned in pain. "Man, why do I feel like crap."

"Maybe it's because you're pregnant." Giles (Buffy) said smiling. "Finally I don't feel like crap."

"I am so not going to have kids if this is how I feel."

"You're gonna wanna change your mind." Delia (Liam) said to Dawn.

"OK, back on topic." Anya (Xander) said. "Anya made a really good point. The candy turned us, so if we eat the candy again then maybe it'll turn us back."

"Well then what the bloody hell we waitin' for." Faith (Spike) said in a heavy English accent. Now everyone looked to her (him).

"Let's get this over with." Spike (Faith) said in an American accent. Everyone took and candy and split it with the person they split with before. Giles, Buffy, and Dawn each split one three ways. They all ate their candy. As soon as the candy hit their mouths, they all made disgusted faces and spat the candy out.

"That was disgusting." Willow (Tara) said wiping her mouth.

"Why did the candy taste good before and then tasted bad?" Buffy (Dawn) asked. "And why do I need to throw up?" She held her mouth and went into the kitchen. They heard a puking sound coming from the kitchen. Giles (Buffy) smirked.

"I'm actually glad that wasn't me this time." He (she) said.

"So the candy swaps us with the bodies of the person we shared the candy with." Tara (Willow) said. "But if we try to switchback the same way, the candy changes flavors so that it's to disgusting to eat."

"The only way for us to switch back is to go back to where the candy came from." Dawn (Giles) said. "Where is it that you two received this candy?"

"We got it from the party at the Bronze." Liam (Delia) said. "A guy in an Ozzy Osborne costume gave it to us. In fact, he kinda encouraged us to share the candy."

"Candy that affects us in weird ways." Anya (Xander) said. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"Well, uh…" Dawn (Giles). "Last time candy affected any of us, it was when all the adults acted like teenagers."

"And we all know who that was." Giles (Buffy) said. "Ethan Rayne."

"Ethan who?" Delia (Liam) asked.

"Ethan Rayne." Tara (Willow) said. "He's not really someone you want to mess with."

"He used to be a part of Giles gang back when he went through his dark times." Anya (Xander) said.

"A servant of chaos." Dawn (Giles) explained further. "In the past he turned people into their costumes one Halloween."

"And made every adult in Sunnydale acted like a teenager with candy." Giles (Buffy) said.

"And turned Giles into a Fyarl Demon." Faith (Spike) said.

"Last we heard from him, he was taken away to military prison by Riley." Giles (Buffy) said.

"Well it looks like he's back." Xander (Anya) said.

"He once turned everyone into their costumes?" Delia (Liam) "I'd rather have been a gypsy then switch sexes."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Liam (Delia) asked looking offended.

"Oh come on. Don't tell me you actually want to stay in my body." Liam (Delia) was about to retort but closed his (her) mouth.

"Well, if he used magic to swap bodies, I can use magic to swap us back." Tara (Willow) said. "Like what happened with Faith and Buffy."

"No." Delia (Liam) said forcefully. "I don't trust you to use magic."

"But you said to use magic big things. This is big."

"I agree with you and I want you to fix this now. But Willow, you're not in your own body. The magic you possessed still is. You have Tara's magic while Tara has yours. Tara doesn't have the experience needed to control your magic and you don't have enough power in the body you are in to cast such a spell. And to top it off, neither one has had practice to get use to the new body and its functions. It's like driving a new car right from the lot. It's too dangerous do anything extreme without spending time getting a feel for it." Both Tara and Willow looked sad. They couldn't use magic at all in fear of causing damage.

"So how do we get out of this one?" Spike (Faith) asked.

"It looks like we're all gonna have to go back to the party and seek out Ozzy."

"Ethan." Giles (Buffy) corrected.

"Whatever. We find him. Make him switch us back. And if I'm still in a bad mood, hurt him."

"Get in line." Liam (Delia) said standing up. "This guy ruined my Halloween and gave me a penis. I want payback." Delia (Liam) looked at him (her) a little stunned.

"I guess that's a good source of revenge."

"And I'm coming too." Buffy (Dawn) said coming in from the kitchen. She had just finished puking and looked a little sick.

"No." Giles (Buffy) said. "You're staying here."

"But I'm in your body. I have the Slayer strength to fight. And I know some fighting moves form Faith."

"What?!"

"Way to rat me out pipsqueak." Spike (Faith) said.

"We can settle this later." Delia (Liam) said. "Sorry Dawn, but it looks like you're going to have to sit this one out…..again." Buffy (Dawn) gave them all an angry look.

"This really sucks." She said.

…

Every one of the gang, besides Dawn because she was in Buffy's body and pregnant, went to the Bronze to search for Ethan Rayne. Buffy was glad she could finally go out and kill something after eight to nine months stuck in a house. She was finally able to go out and fight again.

They all arrived at a deserted Bronze. All that was left of the party were trash and streamers. Some tables were over turned and there were spilled drinks. Liam (Delia) had his (her) broadsword slung over the back. Delia (Liam) had a knife in her (his) back. Everyone else held axes and broadswords.

"The Bronze deserted and it's only ten at night." Anya (Xander) said. "The most unlikely scenario."

"As soon as everyone saw that they were in each other's bodies, they probably ran away freaked out." Tara (Willow) suggested. They all stepped further into the Bronze, searching for a trace of Ethan Rayne. Delia (Liam) looked around and bent down. He picked up a wig and darkened blue glasses. It was part of the Ozzy Osborne costume.

"Be on your guard." Delia (Liam) said dropping the items. "I've never faced this guy before. I don't know what trickery he's got."

"You'll find that he can be most cunning in situations." Dawn (Giles) said.

"So what's the plan on finding this guy?" Xander (Anya) asked.

"ETHAN!" Liam (Delia) shouted. "Come on out you slimy, spineless, cocksucker!"

"Shouting out to the wind and insulting him seems good." Delia (Liam) said.

"Hey, I'm really ticked off at this guy."

"Get in line."

"Did someone call for me?" They heard a voice echo throughout the Bronze. They all looked around the Bronze searching for Ethan. "Up here." They looked up to the balcony and saw Ethan, wearing the Ozzy Osborne costume. Minus the wig and glasses. He leaning on the railing looking down at them.

"Ethan." Dawn (Giles) said in distaste. "You're the one that's doing this."

"Very good observation little girl. Yes, I am the one that's swap peoples bodies. Though, I expected my favorite slayer to regale me with her appearance."

"Who's to say that she hasn't?" Giles (Buffy) retorted.

"Well Ripper if she's here, where is she?" Ethan asked looking around. "Is she behind me?" He looked behind himself and all around. "I don't see her."

"Oh, she's here."

"Where?"

"Right here." Ethan leaned over the balcony more to get a closer look.

"You mean that you two switched. So the slayer is in Rippers body and Ripper's in the slayers."

"You got half that right." Dawn (Giles) said. "I'm right her Ethan." Ethan suddenly burst out laughing. Dawn (Giles) appeared to have a humiliated look on his face.

"So you're in a little girl's body?" Ethan laughed harder. "This is so much better than I expected."

"How did you escape the military?"

"Simple, I just gathered up my power over a period of time and mind controlled some guards to let me loose. Then I laid low for a while before I came back to what I do best. Distribute chaos all over creation."

"Hey, Ethan." Delia (Liam) said stepping forward. "How about you just make it easy on yourself and change everyone back."

"Now why would I do that?" Ethan asked looking curious. "My fun isn't over yet."

"It's going to be." Liam (Delia) said unsheathing his (her) sword. Everyone raised up there weapons.

"Not yet. First, let's see if you all can get past my friends." A dozen or so vampires came out of the shadows and surrounded the gang. The gang raise their weapons for the fight they were now in. "So sorry to be rude, but I must make haste." Ethan turned from the gang and left them. He went down the balcony stairs and exited.

"That guys runnin'." Spike (Faith) said. "Coward."

"Faith, you and the rest take are of these posers." Delia (Liam) ordered. "Delia and I will go after Ethan." Liam and Delia went for the door and knocked some vampires out of their way.

"Not without me." Dawn (Giles) said. He quickly maneuvered around the attacking vampires after them, sliding underneath a vampire that lunged at him.

"Dawn." Giles (Buffy) said. "I mean, Giles." She couldn't go after them because of the vampires.

…

Delia and Liam ran out of the Bronze to see Ethan, getting on a motorcycle.

"Not gonna happen." Delia (Liam) said and threw her (his) knife at the bikes back tire, flattening it. Ethan looked back and looked shocked. "You're not going anywhere."

"Neither are you." Ethan said. Suddenly, five vampires came out from above, separating them from Ethan. Ethan smirked and waved, before turning and running down the street.

"Ethan." They both turned to the tiny voice and saw Dawn (Giles) coming out of the Bronze. Suddenly, a vampire grabbed her (him) from behind.

"Delia, save Giles and take care of these guys." Delia (Liam) said. "I'll go after Ethan." Delia (Liam) side stepped a vampire as Liam (Delia) ran after the vampire that grabbed Dawn (Giles). She slashed at its head and turned it to dust.

"Thank you." Dawn (Giles) said and held up her (his) axe.

"Let's just take care of these guys." Liam (Delia) said. The vampires attacked. Liam (Delia) kicked one vampire and decapitated another that came at them. Dawn (Giles) swiped and caught a vamp in the gut. Then kicked a vampire away. She (he) took the axe out of the vamp and sliced of its head. The vampire that Liam (Delia) kicked went after him (her) and punched him (her) across the face. It punched him (her) several more times before delivering a good kick in the gut. Liam (Delia) got up, looking angry. Yellow flashed across his (her) face. He (she) growled menacingly and stabbed the vampire in the gut, lifting it up off the ground above his (her) head. Liam (Delia) swung his (her) like a bat and the vampire flew off the sword and slammed right into the other vampire that had Dawn (Giles) on the ground. The two vampires were sent into the wall. They slid down and slumped to the ground. Liam (Delia) stride over and swung his (her) sword like a golf club, severing both heads.

"Thanks again." Dawn (Giles) said. "We must find Ethan and Liam." They both went down the street looking the two.

…

Delia (Liam) followed Ethan out of the alley into the street. She (he) saw him running down the street. Using slayer speed, Delia (Liam) ran at him and jumped right in front of him. Ethan stopped, looking surprised.

"Don't you know it's wrong to leave a lady before the date is over?" Delia (Liam) said sarcastically.

"Sorry, you're not my type." Ethan retorted.

"Tell me about it." Delia (Liam) made to grab her (his) knife, but it wasn't there. She (he) remembered she (he) threw it and didn't retrieve it. "Crap."

"What's the matter?" Ethan asked smirking. "Out of weapons?"

"Not quite." Delia (Liam) the only makeshift weapon he had. He pulled out the hand fan Delia had for her costume. He unfolded it and stood in fighting stance.

"A hand fan? Really? I doubt you even know Tessenjutsu."

"Why don't you find out."

"Very well." Ethan pulled out a knife and stood in a fighting stance. They stood facing each other. Waiting for one to move first. Ethan lunged forward first. Delia (Liam) parried his attack with the fan. He moved out of the attack strike and slapped Ethan's wrist hard, making him grunt in pain. Delia (Liam) gave no mercy as he kept sapping and hitting Ethan everywhere from the arm to his torso, jabbing him in key pressure points. Ethan dropped to one knee and Delia (Liam) jabbed him in the neck, forcing him to the ground. Delia (Liam) walked around Ethan and kicked his knife away. Ethan looked up at him.

"Had enough?" Delia (Liam) asked towering over him.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Ethan asked getting up.

"A certain slayer I met. Now turn us back."

"You may have beaten me, but I doubt there is anything you can do to motivate me to change everyone back. The slayer is powerless."

"Here's the thing Ethan," Delia (Liam) smirked. "This body, is a slayer also." Ethan looked stunned at what Delia (Liam) just told him.

"And I want it back." Liam (Delia) said coming over to them with Dawn (Giles).

"Ethan." Dawn (Giles) said smirking. "Glad to know that when you ever bring chaos, you will always lose."

"Oh come now Ripper." Ethan chuckled. "I can only reverse the spell and I don't really feel like doing so. You may use your Ripper abilities, but you're not in your body. So you can't really do your thing without your body's strength."

"What about his?" Liam (Delia) said gesturing to Delia (Liam). "He's got power you've never seen." Ethan just chuckled more.

"I doubt that very much." Liam (Delia) sighed.

"Aright, hope this works." He (she) came close to Ethan. They just stood staring at each other.

"Are you trying to torture me with a staring contest?" Ethan quipped. Liam (Delia) smirked and instantly morphed into Liam's demon form. Ethan stood horrified at the sight as Liam (Delia) grabbed him by the throat and held him up off the ground. Liam (Delia) growled.

"Ethan, if I were you, I'd change us back before Delia loses control." Dawn (Giles) said. "I doubt she can control this demon form for very long." Ethan looked to them and nodded his head. Liam (Delia) dropped him to the ground. He gasped for air. Delia (Liam) bent down.

"Now please." He said to him.

…

Ethan was in the Bronze with his eyes closed and chanting an incantation in Latin. The rest of the gang stood watching, waiting for the spell to work. Ethan finished his chant and a purple aurora appeared around the gang. They felt a wave of dizziness come over them. They stumbled and some of the gang fell down. When the dizziness passes, everyone's eyes opened and they looked at each other. A smiled spread across everyone's face. They all cheered and hug one another, now that they were all in their normal bodies.

"Whoa!" Dawn said. "How did I end up here?"

"We're back as we are." Xander said.

"We're no longer in each other's bodies." Ana said glad.

"God, I am so glad to be back in my body." Delia said in delight.

"But it appears that we have a body missing." Giles said. Everyone turned to look where Giles was looking. Ethan wasn't in the Bronze anymore. "Ethan has escaped once again."

"But we'll meet him again like always." Willow said.

"But until then, can we go home?" Liam asked fed up with tonight.

…

The rest of the gang gathered back at the Summer's house after their very hectic night. They all sat around the living room eating ice cream, not wanting to eat any candy. Faith sat in Spike's lap in a chair. Delia was in Liam's on the couch. Next to them sat Buffy and Dawn right next to her. Xander and Anya were standing next to them. Willow and Tara pulled up chairs while Giles sat in the remaining armchair.

"Is there ever going to be a time where the mystical forces actually take a break on Halloween?" Faith asked taking a spoon full of her ice cream.

"They better." Delia said eating some Chocolate Mint Chip. "Don't they ever learn that we always foil their plans or something?"

"Evil never learns." Liam said. "That's why they always fail."

"Hey, I take some offense to that." Spike said.

"Because it's true in your case?" Xander said smirking.

"Hey watch what you say about my man." Faith warned.

"That I still really weird. You two together."

"Not weird to us." Buffy said taking a big spoon full of Cookie Dough Fudge Mint Chip. "Me and Liam knew they were together. And Angel too."

"But 'we're' all still trying to get used to it."

"So do you guys think that Ethan guy will come back?" Tara asked.

"It is quite likely that he will return, yes." Giles said putting some ice cream into his mouth. "And as usual, we will be there to defeat him."

"I'm just glad to be back in my own body." Dawn said through a mouthful of ice cream.

"Seconded." Anya said. "I wasn't really ready to practice Xander's sex moves." At this, Xander choked on his ice cream. As did the rest of the guys in the room. The women just giggled.

"Yeah well, I really hated being pregnant."

"Just wait until I'm born." Liam said. "You'll beg…." He trailed off and looked at everyone before looking back Dawn. "Your husband, for one of your own."

"Really?"

"Yep. And trust me, I'll need him."

"Him? I'm gonna have a boy?"

"I'm gonna shut up now." Liam went back to eating his portion of Cookie Dough Fudge Mint Chip before his mother took the rest of the cartoon. Buffy smiled at her son and went back to eating. It was, as usual, one crazy Halloween.

"Well I have to say," Buffy began. "I really did like being able to go out and fight again, even without me usual powers, but I'm just glad to be back with Co…." She trailed off as she shifted and held her side.

"Mom?"

"It's ok. Just a small cramp." Buffy berthed in and let the air out and sat up. "I'm fine. Jus…" she held her side again and grunted.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Liam was getting worried. Buffy looked at him.

"I think…..I think this might be it." Everyone got the idea that second.

"Oh boy." Willow said.

…

Angel and Fred were in the garden talking after Angel had his soul swapped with an older man wanting to be young again. They smashed his stone and he was left in the elder home. Fred was a hurt by him and Angel was talking to her. Cordy came hurrying out of the lobby, making Angel and Fred turn their heads to look at her.

"Angel, Willow's on the phone... Buffy's in the hospital! Connor's coming!" Cordy said a bit breathless. With that Cordy turned around and hurried back in. Angel and Fred looked at each other for a beat then Angel jumped up and ran into the hotel after Cordy.

**Wow. Long chapter to write. But I got it. I didn't like the Halloween episode before and I wanted to make one of my own. I brought Ethan Rayne back because I liked that character. I also wanted to bring him back in honor of Robin Sachs, who played Ethan Rayne and died in February. We will miss you Robin Sachs. Comment and Review. Next one is back with Angel canon. **


	9. Fredless

Chapter 9: Fredless

**Back to typical canon. Fred's parents arrive. You guys know what's' going to happen. A through in a little something about Liam. You might be amused. Enjoy.**

Wes was looking at person holding sword blade up at him.

"You wouldn't dare." Wes said. "You were just going to toss in a Prothgarian broadsword with a third-century ceremonial Sancteus dagger?" Cordy was holding the sword turned it in her hands to give it a second look.

"Hmm. Let's see." Cordy said. "Long, metal, pointy. - Yup."

"Cordy! The purpose of an inventory..."

"Yes, give us that purpose of an inventory speech - again." Gunn said sarcastically.

"This wasn't my idea."

"No. Angel keeps complaining that the weapons cabinet is all different." Cordy said. "But, Wesley, who's the boss around here? You - or the guy with the pancreas dagger."

"What time is it?" Fred asked. Wes held up his wrist to Cordy and she read his watch.

"Six twenty four, and for those of you who are playing the home game: that's exactly three minutes from the last time you asked." Fred fumbled around with a strange contraption.

"I'm sorry. I just - I have this theory that the more you are aware of time the more slowly it moves, which 'could' make light speed travel possible, but only if you were to concentrate really..."

"Angel will be back when he's back."

"So – is Angel and Buffy like this all the time? Like, she's in trouble and he goes off running."

"Oh no. Usually, they are all groupie and love dovey…..well, they're still that. Let me break it down for you, Fred. Have a seat boys and girls. You're getting a recap of the 'Angel and Buffy Saga'." Cordy stepped away from the reception counter and pretended to be Buffy. "Oh - Angel! I know that I'm a Slayer and you a vampire - and it would be 'impossible' for us to 'be' together – 'but!'" Gunn laughed at Cordy's act.

"But!" Wes said standing up. Cordy turned to look at him. Wes pulled his glasses off and laid them to the side. "My gypsy curse sometimes prevent me from seeing the truth. Oh, Buffy!"

"Yes, Angel?"

"Oh, I love you so much I almost forgot to 'brood!'" Fred watched wide-eyed. Gunn was laughing.

"And just because I sent you to hell that one time doesn't mean that we can't just be friends." Wes grabbed a hold of Cordy's wrist. "Oh!"

"Or possibly more."

"Gasp! No! We mustn't." Wes pulled Cordy close.

"Kiss me."

"Bite me!" Wes bent Cordy back over his arm and pretended to sink his fangs into her neck.

"How about you both bite me." Angel said. They both looked up to see Angel at the lobby doors with Buffy leaning on him. Liam and Delia were next to the couple watching Wes and Cordy's performance. They all had looks of amusement on their faces.

"You're back!" Fred said jumping up to her feet. Cordy and Wes quickly scurried apart.

"How'd it go?" Gunn asked. Buffy looked down to her still swollen stomach and looked at Gunn.

"Still pregnant." She said. "Doctor said it was Franklin's kick."

"Braxton-Hicks." Angel corrected her. "A form of false labor."

"Which was disappointing." Liam said. "Is it weird for me to be disappointed about seeing my big brothers birth?" Everyone looked at him.

"Yes it is honey." Delia said patting his back. "You wanna get your frustration out with a little roughhousin'."

"Gross." Cordy said making a face.

"I meant going out to kill something." Delia corrected glaring at Cordy.

"Actually, you know what I need right now?" Liam said. "Ice cream."

"I think I'll pass. I had my fill before the hospital."

"I like Ice cream!" Fred said with a grin.

"Great. At least someone wants to go with me."

"I'd love to go too, but I'm too tired to walk anymore, so can you pick me up some?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Anything for you." Angel said and kissed her.

"I think I made my point." Cordy muttered to Wes.

"Then it's settled." Liam said. "Come on Fred." Fred walked up next to Liam and Angel and they all left the lobby.

…

Angel, Liam, and Fred were walking along a dimly lit sewer tunnel with Fred holding a big ice cream cone.

"This has been the best night ever!" Fred exclaimed. "First there's you all taking me to ice cream, then there is the ice cream, then that monster jumps out of the freezer and you both are all brave and 'Fred, watch out!', and then we get to chase it down into the sewers, which are just so bleak and oppressive and - homey. And, and I could build a condo down here."

"I'm glad you're having fun." Angel said.

"You think maybe the monster just wanted a sugar cone?"

"I doubt it." Liam said. "Durslar beasts don't usually come above ground like that. They tend to stick to the sewers."

"Lucky stiffs. They get to lead lives of mysterious sewage while I'm just plain ol' boring ol' Fred."

"Boring?"

"That's not a word I'd use for you, Fred." Angel said.

"Fine." Fred said. "Nutty-ol'-goonie-bird-up-in her-room-doin'-nothin'- Fred. I swear I don't know how you all put up with me. I practically need flashcards to understand my…" She looked past Angel and Liam. "Pretty crystals. Oh, look. They're everywhere." Angel and Liam looked at the crystals. A dull roaring sounded and Fred jumped back. "It wasn't me."

"Oh, no, no, no." Angel said reassuring her. "We must be near the Durslar's lair. Why don't you head back on to the hotel with Liam. I can take it from here."

"The hell you will." Liam exclaimed. "Delia was right. I needed a bit of roughhousing. I'm staying."

"Fine. You can stay. But Fred leaves."

"But shouldn't we call Wesley first and maybe, you know, the army?" Fred asked.

"Nah. Durslar beasts are pretty Faulknerian."

"Lotta sound, no fury." Liam said. "Think you can find your way back okay?"

"I think so. 128 meters back, eastward fork, 207 meters to the southward fork, hang a right, 12 meters in... I'm just being a big nerd again, aren't I?" Angel and Liam nodded. "I'm gonna go now." Fred headed down the tunnel and Angel and Liam turned to walk towards the Durslar's lair. Fred turned back around. "A-are you sure you two are gonna be okay? Because I can stay with you. I really don't mind."

"We'll be fine." Angel said.

"You don't need me. Okay. Bye!" Fred disappeared around the corner then stuck her head out to look back around it. "Are you sure?"

"We're fine!" Liam said laughing.

"Okay. Bye then!" Fred finally left for good. Liam and Angel watched her go with big smiles on their faces.

"Good kid."

"Yeah." Angel agreed with him. They didn't notice the Durslar coming up behind them.

…

Back at the Hyperion Wes, Cordy and Gunn were still busy with the weapons inventory. Buffy was sitting on the couch looking at baby magazines. Delia managed to get a hold of some Harry Potter books in this time and was reading the first book.

"Three-pronged Scythian death spear, category six." Wes said. "Weapons cabinet, third shelf." Cordy took the tagged spear and put it in the weapons cabinet. "You know, back in my days as a rogue demon hunter I once used that very spear to pin down what I thought was a small Rodentius demon - of course the poodle's owners weren't very happy."

"Probably because you were trying to kill their demon dog." Delia said sarcastically, not looking up from her book.

"If you've studied demonology as I have, you would know that it was a harmless mistake."

"Would you hurry up and get a vision already?" Gunn complained to Cordy. "Or you to hurry up and pop out that baby." He said to Buffy, causing to look up at him. Cordy straightened up and backed away from the weapons cabinet.

"Ah, gee, Gunn, much as I would 'love' to endure another soul-splittingly agonizing psychic invasion for your benef-ow! Ow! Ow!" Wes and Gunn hurry over to where Cordy is hunching over in pain. Delia marked her spot and came over.

"Yes! Yes!" Gunn cheered as he helped Cordy.

"No! Ow, Fred! Ouch. I really wish she wouldn't leave her toys lying around!" Cordy walked over to sit on the round settee, rubbing her shin after having bumped in Fred's contraption. Buffy smiled at what Cordy had said. Soon she would be the one to say those words, except the 'she' would be a 'he'.

"Ooh! Pretty wicked looking toy!" Gunn said looking at the contraption.

"I'll say." Wes said bending down and examining it. "It almost looks like a spring-loaded decapitation device."

"Or it makes toast." Buffy said looking at it.

"With Fred, you never know." Delia said.

"Ah. Excuse me!" They heard a man's voice. The gang looks up to see a middle-aged couple standing on the landing just inside the front doors. "Ah, is this Angel Investigations?"

"Yes. Can we help you?" Wes answered.

"I sure hope so." The man said in a thick Texas accent. "I'm Roger, and this is my wife, Trish. Ah, we're sorry to barge in on your... arsenal here, but - we really need to talk to you."

"Of course. Please, step into my office." He gestured them to the office. Craning his neck to get another look at the arsenal of weapons on display, Roger ushered his wife down the stairs. Cordy helped Buffy up and the rest of the team followed them into the office. "I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. These are my colleagues, Cordelia Chase, Buffy Summers, Delia Winters, and Charles Gunn." They all shook hands. "What can we do for you?" he asked getting right down to business. The couple sat down in the chairs in front of Wes' desk as Wes settled in his chair as well.

"It's our daughter." Trish explained. "She's missing."

"Oh, no." Cordelia frowned. "Kidnapped by evil fiends?"

"We're not sure."

"I see." Wes said making notes. "Was your daughter involved in any kind of demon worship?"

"Of course not!" Roger denied adamantly.

"Could be a vampire." Delia suggested.

"Hard luck tracking one of those in a city this big." Gunn said causing Buffy and Delia to glare at him. "But don't worry. We're detectives. We can find anyone."

"We already hired a detective." Roger told them.

"And he couldn't find her." Buffy said. Roger shook his head.

"He said she was staying here - in your hotel."

"Her name is Winifred Burkle." Trish said. "We call her Fred." Buffy, Delia, Wes, Gunn, and Cordy all shared a look that didn't convey the amount of shock they were in from what the couple just told them.

"Fred's your daughter?" Cordy asked dumbfounded.

"Yes. You know her?" Trish asked eagerly

"Is she here? Is she alright?" Roger asked quickly looking around.

"She's fine." Cordy quickly said.

"And - out at the moment." Wes added. "With two more of our associates."

"Who?" Roger asked as his eyes narrowed. Wondering who was out with his daughter.

"Angel and Liam." Buffy said to reassure the parents. "Angel is my husband and Liam is…" She trailed of, wondering what she should say about her son. He looked like Angel so… "his brother."

"Who is my husband." Delia said. "And they are not evil fiends - or vampires - because they don't exist. In - case you aren't familiar with our LA gumshoe detective slang."

"But what happened to her?" Roger asked earnestly. "It's been five years - has she been with y'all this whole time?"

"No." Wes said shaking his head. "Ah, we've only known Fred for a few months, really. - You see we found her in..." Wes looked at rest, panicked, wondering what to say.

"Ah, a fit of depression." Cordy finished.

"Fred was depressed?" Trish asked. Cordy nodded her head. "Over what?" Cordy looked back at Wes. Mind totally blank.

"She had recently relocated and was - having trouble adjusting." Wes said. "So, how did you come to find her again?"

"Oh, about a month ago we got a letter from her in the mail."

"But she didn't leave her return address." Roger added, frowning. "In fact she said she was fine and we shouldn't bother looking for her, but..."

"Five years of not knowing whether your daughter's alive or... Well, how could we just let it go?"

"So you hired the private eye." Buffy surmised and Roger nodded.

"And he tracked her down through an un-addressed envelope?" Gunn asked with a raised eyebrow. "We could do that."

"Wait til you guys hear what happened at Haagen Dazs!" Liam said coming into the hotel with Angel who was holding a severed head that was dripping green blood.

"Yeah, ordinarily these things don't put up much of a fight, but this one?" Angel chuckled holding up the head. "Hoo! I think I'm gonna have it..." They walked into the office and stopped, seeing the middle aged couple sitting before Wes' desk. "...mounted. - Hello."

"Angel, Liam." Cordy said. "You both are - alone. And - and you brought ..."

"A prop!" Buffy interrupted and walking over to Angel's side and took his hand that was free. "From their movie!" She looked to the parents. "This is Angel and that's Liam." She pointed to Liam. "Angel and Liam are brothers that - make - monster movies." She looked to her men. "Guys, these are Fred's very 'normal' parents." She stressed 'normal' to tell them that they didn't know anything about the supernatural. Angel put the head behind his back.

"Ah. - Fred has parents." Angel said smiling.

"Well it sure is - nice to meet you both." Liam said also smiling. To the average person, they would be looking at twins.

"Ah. Boys, you-your prop is dripping." Roger said nodding towards the severed head and saw green blood dripping.

"Oh, yeah." Angel laughed. This…" He swung the demon head up by the hair, causing Roger and Trish to duck back. "- fake. You know, a little glue, paper machee..." Angel tossed the head back behind himself without looking into the lobby - where they all heard a big crash of glass as it landed.

"...possibly some lead." Liam added. "So, Fred's parents - we've heard so - much... Well, uhm, sure is nice to meet you folks."

"Do you know when Fred will be back?" Roger asked them. Angel and Liam looked towards the rest of the team, who all gave them pointed looks in return.

"Oh, uhm." Angel began. "Well, yeah, ah, I sent her right back here, right before we... picked up that - prop. So I'm sure she's - up in her room. Trish and Roger smiled at each other. "Right now."

…

All of them had gone upstairs to see Fred in her room. But when they got there, they found it to be remarkably clean and organized. And Fredless.

"Fred?" Trish asked.

"She's not here." Roger said seeing the empty room. Angel bent down and picked up the crumpled ice cream cone wrapper from the floor.

"No. But she was." He said. Trish looked at the walls.

"This - it's her writing." She said. "But what does this mean? It's just crazy."

"We might have to call them in sooner than we thought." Roger whispered into her ear.

"Guys - when was the last time Fred ever left the hotel by herself?" Cordy whispered to the gang.

"A couple of weeks after never." Gunn said.

"We want our daughter." Roger said sternly to them.

"So, what is she running from?" Wes said, the whole AI team turning to look at Fred's parents, standing across the room from them.

…

The gang was alone in Wesley's office.

"So Fred's AWOL." Delia said crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Not good at all."

"There's just something - off about them." Cordy said referring to Fred's parents. "I can't put my finger on what."

"Fred must have returned while we were in here." Wes began to summarize. "Seen her parents and..."

"Took off." Angel finished with a nod. "That's not a good sign."

"They said she sent them a letter." Gunn said. "Can ya'll picture Fred sneaking off to send a letter?"

"Pfft! Sneaking off, right." Cordy said. "Fred can barely tie her shoes without Mr. 'oh, you're my big, fat hero!' around."

"You think I'm fat?" Angel and Liam both said quietly.

"Oh, you're not fat honey." Delia said. "But you may wanna lay of the ice cream." Buffy smirked at Liam's shocked reaction to Delia's comment.

"This could be a ruse, to trick us into letting them get close to her." Wes suggested. "Making it seem as though she'd initiated contact."

"On the other hand if the letter is real and she told them not to look for her, there's got to be a reason for that." Buffy said.

"Fred never talks about her family." Cordy said.

"So, where do we start?" Liam asked. He looked at them all, but they all stay silent.

"Where would Fred go?" Angel asked.

"We could hit all the local taco stands." Gunn said causing everyone to look at him. "Joke! - Kind of."

"Come on, guys, think! What do we know about Fred?"

"Well, I knew about the tacos." Gunn said smugly. Liam, who was standing near enough to do so, put his hand behind Gunn's head to slap him, stopped and clenched his fist. Lowering it back down.

"All right. She seemed pretty comfortable in the sewers. They're dark, cave-like. She felt safe there. I'll head back down there, see if I can find her."

"I'll try and pick up a sent from her room and try to follow it." Liam said. "My sense of smell is a little bit more powerful than yours dad." Angel was going to say something, but Wes interrupted him.

"She worked at the Public Library." He stated. "There may be colleagues there she trusted."

"What about them?" Cordy asked peeking out into the lobby at the Burkles sitting on the settee, talking quietly to each other. "We can't just leave them there! What if Fred comes back?" The Burkle's looked up, catching sight of Cordy watching them and Cordy quickly pulled her head back out of sight.

"They may just have to tag along." Delia said.

"Or they could stay here and keep mom company." Liam said.

"No." Buffy said. "I'm helping with the search parties too. Fred is my friend."

"Buffy, you just went through false labor." Angel pointed out. "What if something happened?"

"Then you and everyone else will be there to help me." Buffy retorted. Angel opened his mouth to retort back. "I am not taking 'no' for an answer. I am coming along if that means I have to put Connor at risk. End of discussion."

"But-"

"End. Of. Discussion." Angel went silence, knowing that he pretty much lost the argument.

"Am I always like that?" Delia asked Liam.

"More than me." He replied.

…

The gang followed Wes out of the office into the lobby.

"Mr. and Mrs. Burkle, we're gonna try a few places we think Fred may have gone." Wes said to the couple. "Would you like to come along?"

"Ah, all nine of us?" Roger asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to split up, cover more territory?"

"Perhaps." Gunn said after a beat.

"Well, I'm—" Angel glanced at Buffy who glared at him. "We're going to check out some of my, uh, industry contacts. So it'll just be the seven of you."

"Five of you." Liam corrected. "Buffy's pregnant and can't go out with just one body guard. City's a dangerous place at night."

"Wouldn't be more prudent for Buffy to just stay here?" Trish asked.

"I wanna help find Fred." Buffy said. "She's my friend."

"Then it's settled." Delia said. "Buffy, Angel, Liam, and I will check out those industry contacts."

"Industry contacts?" Trish repeated wide-eyed. "Why would... - Fred's not - 'making movies,' is she?"

"Movies?" Angel repeated.

"No! No, no, of course not." Liam denied, saving his father. "It's just some of these contacts they-they know things sometimes. They're, ah, underground."

"Right." Wes said. "Uh - shall we go?" The Burkles followed Cordy and Gunn out the door. Angel grabbed a hold of Wes' arm as he passed him.

"Call me if..."

"Yeah."

…

Angel, Buffy, Delia, and Liam were walking through the sewer tunnels. Angel and Liam led the way. Delai and Buffy followed a few paces behind. Delia had her sword out and was close to Buffy. Real close to Buffy.

"I know you're trying to protect me because it's my son's wish," Buffy whispered to her. "But you are a little close, Del." Delia noticed how close she was and stepped back a bit. "Thank you."

"Sorry." Delia apologized. "Liam's just been really worried about you and Connor. He cares a lot about you guys."

"I know. He was like that when I first met him."

"It's just that he's gone through a lot and I want to help him find peace."

"I know. I want to help too. But it seems that he won't find peace unless the future is saved."

"And how long is that going to take?"

"Are you sensing anything?" Liam asked his father. Angel shook his head and sighed.

"No, there's not a fresh scent." He said. "She could still be down here though."

"You think maybe she got lost?" Buffy asked as came to a fork and went down the left tunnel.

"Nah," Angel chuckled slightly as he remembered how Fred had known, by the meter, how far they had traveled on their ice cream run. "She'd be able to find her way back."

"I wanna know why she's running." Liam said as he looked around them and saw a rat scurry above them, scampering across the beltway of pipes.

"Maybe she's running from herself," Buffy theorized. She knew from experience what that was like.

"Or what happened," Angel replied quietly. "Fred never talked much about her time in Plyea."

"Maybe seeing her parents made everything real." Delia suggested. "I mean, I know what it's like to cling to the hope that everything was all a dream." She reminisced about her friends that she saw perish in the Wolfram and Hart building in the future.

"So do I." Liam said. He remembered his parent's death and him killing Kathy. He wanted more than anything to believe that it had been all a dream. "The only thing that could really drive you to even live after something so traumatic." Angel stopped which made everyone else stop. "What is it dad?"

"I have a feeling that we're not talking about Fred anymore." Angel said looking at his son caringly. "Anything you wanna share?"

"You already know about my life dad." Liam said after a beat. "You and mom both know that I suffered a lot and I relied on a seemingly impossible hope to see the rest of my family again. And here we are. I'm with my parents and others who I consider to be my family. I'm fighting so that Connor can be born and live the life he deserved."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy asked worriedly as she placed a hand on her stomach. Liam looked at her and at Delia. Then back at Angel.

"You all know that people are going to be after Connor." They nodded. "We get through that, and Connor's saved. I hope."

"We will protect Connor." Angel said determinedly.

"I know. And I am going to make sure of that. I owe him for what he did for me." Liam finished and turned to walk away. The rest followed. They all were quiet again as they walked along the sewer tunnels, tracing the path that the guys and Fred had taken to get the ice cream.

"I don't think Fred's down here," Buffy said.

"Yeah," Angel agreed just as his phone rang. Everyone stopped as Angel answered his phone. "What? No. You?" Angel listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. "Oh, you mean a person she would go to for help and guidance?" Exasperation colored his tone as he muttered, "And we call ourselves detectives. I'll meet you there," Angel said before the phone snapped shut. Angel turned to opposite direction and everyone followed.

"Did Wes figure out something?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, and I can't believe we didn't think of it sooner." Angel shook his head.

"Where would she go?"

…

"Well, isn't this a lovely surprise." A robe-clad Lorne greeted them with only the faintest hint of sarcastic dislike.

"'He's' surprised." Cordy said. "I didn't think he 'owned' terry cloth."

"Hmm. Such a small entourage tonight." Lorne continued, shooting a glare at Gunn. He had still not forgiven A.I. for what had happened the last time they'd been in his club. Gunn's gang came in and shot the place "Hey, Gunn, why didn't you bring your other friends? 'cause they make a party." Gunn looks from Wes to Angel, to Lorne.

"Maybe I should wait outside." He said.

"You know, I'm - I'm not entirely uncomfortable with that suggestion." With that, Gunn left.

"Geez Lorne." Liam said looking around the destroyed nightclub. "What the hell happened here?"

"Oh, do you like it? I was kinda going for a Dresden after the bombing sort of feel."

"Feeling felt." Delia said also looking around at the destroyed nightclub. Both she and Liam were not present when Gunn's gang came in and started shooting up the place.

"Ah, is this one of your big 'industry contacts?'" Roger asked eyeing Lorne. "Some guy in a bathrobe, wearing makeup and fake horns?"

"They're not fake!" Lorne defended. "And it's - only a little eyeliner."

"Lorne, I'd like you to meet Fred's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Burkle." Wes introduced the couple. "They're here visiting - from the country."

"Yeah. You have to forgive us hicks." Roger said with a slight smile. "Down in Texas we don't get a lot of guys who wear eyeliner - not for long anyway."

"He's just teasing you." Cordy said quickly. "He probably just got back from a shoot. He, Angel, and Liam do monster movies together! Right, Lorne?!"

"Ah... No." Lorne said not wanting to get in the middle of something.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Angel asked as he walked up to Lorne and pulled him aside. Liam followed. "Look, Lorne, I'm sorry about the bar, but right now Fred is missing and we need your help."

"Oh, really? Yeah, well, I'm not some mystical vending machine here to spit out answers every time 'you' waltz in with a problem. I have a heart. Granted it's located in my left butt cheek, but it's still a heart. And that heart is broken! I mean, why is it no one ever cares about 'my' destiny? Everyone who walks through that door is all about me, me, me. Well, what about my me? My me's important."

"You know where she is, don't you?" Liam accused.

"A-and another thing, how... how do they get the pimentos in the olives, huh?" Lorne asked avoiding the question. "There's a mystery for you. You know, do they stuff each one by hand, 'cause that seems a little time consuming, or do you think they have a - little - pimento - stuffing - machine ..." Angel and Liam just looked at him. Lorne sighed. "Fred doesn't want to see her parents. She has reason for that. I mean, why force a showdown if you don't have to?"

"Because it won't be over." Angel said. "They found her once, they'll do it again. At least this time we can be there to protect her." Lorne shook his head a little and looked away.

"Please Lorne." Liam said. "Tell us where Fred is. I know you're not a slot machine. And my mom is really worried."

"Vending machine, you big palooka." Lorne corrected then sighed. "Alright, anything for the misses and the bun. But play this one delicately, bro's. Because it's gonna get messy."

…

The gang and the Burkles made their way to the bus terminal, all of whom hurrying, wanting to find the same thing. They rounded a corner and suddenly came to a halt as they saw Fred, sitting on the bench by herself, looking unseeingly out in front of her. The A.I. crew stopped, but Roger and Trish Burkle broke into a jog toward their daughter. Fred saw them and tried to run off again but her parents got to her. At first there had been hesitation on Fred's part, and they had all heard Fred's protests. She thought that her parents weren't real; that they couldn't be here because that would mean that she'd actually been in Pylea. Fred's parents reassured her that they loved her. Every one of the A.I. team felt something at the site. Suddenly a big insect dropped down from the ceiling screeching. It looked like an overgrown hybrid between a spider and a cockroach.

Liam let out an ear deafening, fearful scream. He kinda screamed like a girl. Every one of the team looked at him. He had an expression of shock and horror on his face.

"What the hell was that?" Gunn asked.

"I really hate bugs." Liam whimpered.

"Whimp." Delia muttered in disbelief.

"Everybody outside." Angel ordered.

"Angel..." Buffy argued worriedly. Surely he wouldn't fight the bug on his own.

"Get them out of here. I can handle this. Move!"

"Let's go!" Gunn he urged before dragging Buffy away just as the monster lunged at Angel, stabbing at him with his pincers. Delia dragged a paralyzed Liam out of the bus depot.

"What the hell is that?" Roger asked as they ran through the doors of the bus terminal.

"Bug." Liam answered. "Really big bug."

"All our weapons are back at the hotel!" Cordy said running her hands through her hair.

"Angel said he could handle..." Gunn began but was cut off as Angel came flying through the closed doors, smashing them, coming to rest across the street at Gunn's feet. "...it." The giant bug followed Angel through the doors, and Angel was already on his feet again, wearing his game face. He launched another attack on the monstrous insect and this time it was Buffy who took Gunn's hand and began to lead him in the direction of the car.

"Maybe there's something in the trunk." Gunn said as they ran to the car.

"What happened to his face?" Roger asked, referring to Angel's game face.

"Angel's a vampire." Buffy explained. "He has a soul, but it's a long story. I'll tell you about it if we don't end up dying." Wes saw a pile of luggage and changed direction.

"Cordy! Here." He said. The bug was still stabbing and slicing at Angel with its pincers. Angel managed to duck most of them before getting swiped off his feet.

"Hey! Bug boy!" Gunn said and shot a compound sports bow and arrow. The bug shrieked and went for the downed Angel again only to have Cordy and Wes attack it with golf clubs. Gunn grabbed a golf club of his own and joined the fray. The bug managed to knock a club out of someone's hands and it slid across the ground to come to rest in front of Fred. Delia led Liam and Buffy to cover behind a bus and pulled out a knife.

"Stay here, protect her." Delia ordered.

"I will." Liam said nodding.

"I was talking to Buffy." Delia turned and ran at the bug, swiping with her knife at it. The bug swiped its pincers at Delia and flung her into a wall. Angel was back up and slugging at the thing. The bug managed to send him flying against the wheel of the parked bus Liam and Buffy were cowering behind. As Angel got back up, the bug stabbed him in each shoulder with its pincers, pinning him up against the bus. Both Buffy and Liam let up soft whimpers as they heard Angel's grunt as we was pinned. Fred came up and hit the bug from behind with the golf club and it let go of Angel to turn on Fred.

"Fred, get out of the..." Angel said as he pushed Fred out of the way, but the bug still scored on Fred's arm - before getting hit over the head hard with a metal cylinder by Roger.

"That's my daughter you damn cockroach!" he shouted angrily as he hit the bug over the head.

Angel jumped on the bugs back, pinning its forelegs against its body, immobilizing them. Roger led Fred over to the side. The bug breaks Angel's grip and shakes him off then turns around and sends him flying through the air to impact with the side of a parked bus. Buffy inched out from behind the bus she and Liam were behind and peered out, seeing the bug go after Angel. Fear began to circle and creep around her heart as the giant cockroach advanced towards Angel, who hadn't yet gotten to his feet. And then a bus blew by right in front of Angel, slamming into the encroaching bug and causing it to splatter everywhere. The bus screeched to a halt and two seconds later, Trish Burkle darted through the doors of the bus, looking around for the bug, not seeming to notice how its guts were everywhere.

"Did I get it?" She asked. "Did I get it, y'all?" Liam peered out and saw the splattered guts of the bug. He sighed in relief

…

They were all back in the lobby of the Hyperion. Cordy is doctoring the scratch on Fred's arm. Buffy was doctoring the pincer wounds on Angel. Delia sat next Liam on the settee rubbing his back soothingly. He was hunched over, fiddling with his thumbs

"I almost hate to ask, but" Trish began. "You do a lot of bandaging in your line of work?"

"Mmm. Occupational hazard." Cordy said. "I mean, sure there is the occasional demon who tries to kill us with pillows, but, sadly, those cases are few and far between."

"How about this guy?" Roger asked looking at the Durslar's head. It has some of the same pretty crystals that Fred spotted in the sewer around its lair stuck to its side. "Was he a demon?"

"I think Angel called it a Durslar beast." Fred touched the crystals with her finger. "He, Liam, and Fred tracked it down after it attacked them when they went out for ice cream."

"You mean you know how to track these things, Fred?" Roger asked sounding impressed and looking at his daughter.

"No." Fred answered. "Mostly I was just there for the ice cream."

"I wish he hadn't brought that thing out again." Trish said. "It gives me the willies."

"You mean that you didn't have them back there?" Liam asked, meaning their encounter with the giant cockroach.

"I got it." Gunn said and picked up the head to move it out of Trish's sight. "The lady makes bug soup with a ten ton bus, but show her a paper-mache head, she gets the willies. Ha. Women."

"Uh, Gunn, you 'do' know it's not paper-mache?" Angel informed him. Gunn quickly set the head down on the reception counter and took his hands off the head.

"We still got that bleach in the bathroom?" Gunn ran for the bathroom.

"Ha. Whimp." Liam said watching Gunn rush to the bathroom.

"Honey, you got a spider on your shoulder." Delia said. Liam immediately jumped up off the settee, brushing himself off everywhere, looking scared. Delia laughed at her husband.

"Is it off?" he asked panting.

"How is it that a big bad son of Angel is brave enough to handle every kind of demon out there, but is so scared to handle bugs?" Cordy asked laughing.

"Man I hate bugs. The way they look. The way they crawl. The way they flutter around if they have wings. Bugs are disgusting."

"And demon guts aren't?" Buffy asked finishing bandaging up Angel.

"I can handle demon guts." Liam said. "Just not bugs." He muttered to himself.

"I married a total whimp." Delia teased. Liam glare at her.

"Voila!" Cordy said finishing the bandaging on Fred. "That's French for 'I think we stopped the bleeding.'"

"Thanks Cordelia." Fred thanked

"How does it feel, Fred?" Wes asked concerned.

"Like my heart's been put in one of those orange juice squeezers..." She looked down at her arm. "Oh. Kind of like a giant bug tried to rip my arm off and Angel saved me."

"He seems to do 'that' a lot, doesn't he?" Trish said.

"It's what he does. Angel's the champion, and Wesley's the brains of the operation, Gunn's the muscle and Cordy's the heart. Buffy, Liam, and Delia are also champions. Each with their own uniqueness they bring to the fold. Buffy's toughness, Liam's determination, Delia's expertise in biology. Very interesting by the way." Everyone that Fred just mentioned smiled widely.

"And to think, we were wondering when to call the cops on a bunch of superheroes!" Roger said.

"Oh, I'm not really a hero." Angel said sheepishly.

"More like a bloodsucking fiend." Liam said. Angel sent him a glare.

"Frankly, Angel, I don't care if you drink pig's blood, cows blood, or those froofy, little, imported beers." Roger said. "You saved my little girl."

"Well, I wouldn't have had to if she hadn't gone all Amazonian and whacked that thing with a golf club." Angel replied humbly, though a small hint of pride shown through.

"Well, I tell ya, I hadn't seen a stroke like that since Nicklaus took on Gary Player in the '63..."

"Bob Hope Dessert Classic." Angel and Roger both said at the same time. They looked at each other, laughed and shook hands.

"Alright!" Angel said.

"I wanna go home." Fred said abruptly. Everyone got real quiet and looked at her. "I'm - I'm just not cut out for this. I mean, if Angel hadn't gotten me out of the way, you'd all be laughing in the morgue right now. - Okay, maybe not laughing, but - the point is, I think I should go home where it's quiet and safe and - monsters don't eat your family. - You're not - disappointed in me, are you?"

"Oh, Fred. Never!" Trish said. "Oh, it's gonna be so good to have you home!" The Burkles shared a family hug. Liam smiled at the site and looked to his parents, who also looked at the site with a smile. He was going to miss Fred. Delia was too. To her, it was like having a geeky friend that you could talk science stuff about without someone asking you to put it in English.

"She probably be happier there." Gunn said. The sadness in his voice was unmistakable.

"Yeah. That's good." Wes agreed. His voice also held sadness. Cordelia frowned. She'd grown quite attached to Fred.

…

Fred stood in her room contemplating the writing on the wall. Angel appeared in the open door behind her and knocked on it to get her attention.

"Oh, hi Angel. I invite you in." Fred said.

"Thanks, but you only have to do that the first time," Angel smiled as he stepped into the room. "Once I'm invited…"

"I know," Fred interrupted with a quick grin. "I just figured that since I'm going home now, I'm not going to be inviting you in anywhere. Unless, of course, you come to Texas."

"Or you build that condo in the sewer," Angel returned, remembering their conversation in the sewer during their ice cream run. Fred was silent, so Angel looked around the room, giving her some time to think. "So, how you feeling?" he asked after a moment.

"Oh, ah, fizzy…kinda weird and...fizzy…but excited, and a little sad. Thankful. Sorta cautiously happy... Relieved and worried at the same time. Slightly nauseous while still bein', hopeful?" she asked the last part.

"And that about covers it," Angel mumbled under his breath. He looked to the writing's on the wall "Are you gonna remember everything that's up there?" he asked.

"Well, sure," Fred shrugged as if it were obvious. "It's a story," she explained. "Once upon a time there was a girl who lived in a horrible cave, so far away from home it made her chest hurt. And every day in that horrible cave, the girl tired to think of a way to escape. None of her plans ever succeeded of course, and eventually she'd given up hoping—when one day—just like in a fairytale—a handsome man rode up on a horse to save her, and took her back to his castle." Angel remained silent as Fred retold her past from her perspective. "You'd think that'd be the end, wouldn'tcha? Dumb old fairytales and their happily ever afters…" Fred sat down on the edge of her bed, and Angel sat down beside her. "But you see, the minute the handsome man got back to the castle, he went away again," Fred remembered sadly. "And even though she didn't mean to, didn't want to—high up in that castle she built herself another cave—hoping he could save her again." Fred looked at Angel, an accepting comprehension on her features. "But you can't save me this time, can you?" Angel opened his mouth, only to close it again. "You don't have to say anything," Fred said quietly as she looked at her walls, at her story. "It's not your fault. Buffy's very special to you. And so is Liam and Connor. They'll be the one's you'll always save, the one's you'll always care about the most."

"Fred, I—"

"I said it's not your fault," Fred repeated with a kind smile. "I really like them, ya know. Buffy was really nice. And Liam was a lot like you." Angel smiled at her compliments

"Yeah. They are a lot of things"

"And I hate that I'll miss the baby being born," Fred frowned. She really had liked the idea of being an Aunt. With a gentle touch, Angel reached out and took Fred's hand in his. He squeezed it comfortingly and Fred squeezed back.

"You'll always be welcome here, Fred. Don't forget that."

…

Downstairs, Roger and Gunn were carrying Fred's contraption over to the settee.

"Hey, honey, would you look at this?" Roger said. "Fred 'made' this."

"Cool, ain't it?" Gunn said.

"We think it's some sort of mechanized weapon, possibly influenced by the medieval catapult, designed for serious to fatal wounding, if not complete decapitation." Wes theorized.

"Or it makes toast." Liam pointed out.

"Or it makes toast."

"I'm actually with Wes on it being a catapult." Delia said.

Fred and Angel came down the stairs then, Angel carrying Fred's suitcase.

"Hey! You got everything packed, baby?" Trish asked Fred. "What about that shirt with the bug guts on it? You-you threw that out, right? You're not taking it home, right?"

"I don't know." Fred said. "I kinda thought I'd take it with me - guts and all. You know, as a souvenir."

"Ah. That's my girl!" Roger said proudly.

"You know," Fred began to explain. "in the shower I had all these pretty things I was gonna say and I was gonna be all fancy and... aw, hell." She glanced at her parents. "I mean heck." She went over and gave Gunn a big hug. Gunn held on to her tightly for a moment then cleared his throat and let her go. Fred walks over to Wes and hugged him as well. Fred went to hug Cordy.

"Between you and me, I'm almost a little jealous." Cordy whispered. Fred walked over to Liam and Delia.

"I hope I get to see the future that you'll both make." She whispered.

"I'll make sure you will." Liam said and hugged her.

"And don't forget to use your brain." Delia said hugging her. "As well as your heart."

"I will." Fred replied and walked over to Angel and Buffy. "Thank you - for everything." Angel nodded to her and Fred turned to Buffy. It was strange for the both of them at first when they met, but as time went on, they had really gotten to become friends. Buffy smiled and pulled Fred into a gentle hug. She pulled back and placed her hands on Fred's shoulders.

"Don't be a stranger," Buffy ordered and Fred nodded.

"Bye Fred," Angel smiled slightly as he handed over Fred's suitcase. Fred gave him a smile and turned to her parents.

"We better go before I get all runny." She said sniffling. The Burkles walks up the steps to the front doors. Fred turns around one last time and waves at them all before the doors close behind them.

…

Everyone made their way to Wes' office and sat sprawled out. Angel and Buffy fell on the couch in the office. Cody lied on a chair looking up. Wes sat at his desk. Gunn sat on the arm of the chair that Delia took and Liam leaned on the wall.

"In a really weird way, you know who I miss?" Cordy said after about ten minutes.

"Fred." Wes said.

"Actually I was gonna say her parents. - Is that wrong."

"I don't think so. "Angel said. "They were very - nice."

"Nice? - They weren't just nice, Angel. They were..."

"Parents." Gunn said.

"They loved her." Wes said. "Supported her. - Didn't grind her down into a - tiny self-conscious nub with their constant berating. Their never ending tirade of debasement, and scorn and..." Wes trailed off as he noticed that all of the others are looking at him. He opened his mouth to say something else, then closed it.

"At least now Fred's got a shot at a normal life." Liam said. "Not that I don't love you guys, and LA, and my work, but - things are just never normal around here."

"Were they ever for us?" Delia asked sarcastically.

"I'm just saying – it'd be nice to get what Fred's getting."

"We could have one of those." Buffy offered. "We could just gather everyone and hang out at my house on a Saturday night and make an evening of it."

"She was so smart." Wes said.

"Aww. Thanks Wes."

"I think he was talking about Fred, Buffy." Cordy said.

"Oh."

"I'm gonna miss her." Angel said. "She was just this nice, quiet kind of crazy. - I found that - soothing."

"And what? I'm not soothing?" Buffy sat up straighter. "I can be soothing. I could soothe your ass off, honey."

"You are soothing" he cajoled. "Really, really, really soothing," he continued when Buffy's glare didn't lighten. "I love you." Nothing. "A lot." Buffy continued to glare at him, then looked down and tears formed in her eyes.

"I'm gonna miss her." She said and hugged Angel.

"I think I am too." Delia said. "She was kinda like a lab partner. Hadn't rally had one of those in a while."

"Well, that's it." Cordy said. "I'm not gonna sit around here and mope like you - bunch - of - mopers. I'm gonna go home." She put on her shoes. "Eat some comfort food." She got up and started to walk out. "Have a good cry. Crawl under my big, fluffy... giant bug!" She screeched as she entered the lobby and saw several of those bugs entering the hotel.

"Where?!" Liam asked scared and looking around. Cordy came back into the office as the rest of the A.I. tram, minus Liam and Buffy, came out and saw the bug.

"We hit that thing with a bus." Gunn said. "You're telling me a bus won't kill it?"

"I don't think it's the same one." Angel said. He turned and saw Buffy and Liam still in the office. "Stay there until we exterminate these guys." He ordered. Liam nodded happily. Not wanting to get in the middle of a fight that was about to go down. Angel looked out into the garden court which was crawling with giant bugs.

"We are so immensely dead." Cordy said seeing the sight Angel saw.

"Weapons." Wes said. Angel ran and rolled over the counter to engage the bug while the others ran for the weapons cabinet. Delia pulled out her sword and started slashing at whatever bugs she could reach. Buffy saw the fight that was happening. She knew that they needed help, but with her so far in her pregnancy, she couldn't do a thing. She looked down to Liam, who was crouched in a feeble position. She bent down to him.

"Liam, you need to help them." She told him.

"I-I-I can't." Liam stuttered. "I-I-I hate bugs."

"Then squish 'em."

"The-They're too big."

"Then morph and save your father and your wife."

"But-but…" he was cut off as he heard Delia scream. "Delia!" he stood up and saw Delia on the ground with a nasty cut on her arm. Her sword was off to the side where she couldn't reach it and a giant bug was over her, ready to stick it's pincers into her. "No!" Liam ripped of his shirt and morphed into his demon form. He roared and smashed through the glass window, into the lobby. He caught the pincers before they could go into Delia. Delia saw this and smiled slightly. Liam snapped the pincers off the bug, which made a screeching noise, and stuck the pincers back into the bug, killing it. Wes saw demon Liam in his form for the first time and was astonish by his abilities.

"Good Lord." He muttered. Wes then turned only to see a bug throw Angel to the floor. "Angel, we..." The door opened and Fred ran in.

"Here! I'm here." Fred said.

"Fred?"

"Oh, I'm late!" Roger helped her to drag her contraption into position. A bug was still stabbing at the downed Angel. Gunn and Wes raise their weapons trying to block it's pincers.

"Who's helping me here?" Angel asked.

"I am!" Fred stomped down on her contraption. A battle axe sailed through the air and split the Durslar head like an over ripe melon. Green goop spatters the wall and a bunch of little cockroaches crawl free of it. The bugs leave Angel and the gang alone and instead went to the head with cockroaches in it. One picked up the head and they all headed for the garden court. The little bugs follow after them.

Buffy rushed out of the office and immediately went to Angel. Buffy threw her arms around him, not planning on letting go. Liam morphed back to human form and Delia got up and they hugged.

"So. 'Not' a toaster." Gunn said eying the contraption.

"Fred, how did you..." Angel began.

"The crystals." She interrupted. "The ones we saw in the sewer? They were on the Durslar head, too. And at first I thought they came from the Durslar, but then I saw 'this'. - Daddy?" Roger handed her the crystal covered shirt. "Those crystals are just dried up bug goop. It must have laid its eggs in the Durslar's head, which would explain the Durslar coming up out of the sewer, 'cause, I mean, wouldn't you be a little crazy if you had eggs in your head? I know I would." Buffy opened her mouth, glanced at Angel and closed it again. "Anyway, that'd be all fine and Darwinian, except Angel killed the Durslar and brought the head back here, so the Bug had to track him down to get its babies back."

"And at the bus station, when Trish ran over the mother..." Wes added.

"Or father. I think it might be a hive species gender neutral, but I'd have to do some research to back that up."

"So the whole hive showed up in order to reclaim its offspring?" Liam asked Fred nodded.

"Brilliant deduction, Fred!" Wes commented.

"Yes, great. But in the future, no more souvenirs from the sewers. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, and bugs need to stay in the ground." Delia chuckled at Liam.

"Not to mention, that little axe gadget is tight." Gunn complimented on the contraption.

"That was just a random thought I had." Fred aid laughing. "What if you had to do battle with your arms cut off? Sure, you'd hemorrhage to death pretty quick, but at least you could take your enemy with you!"

"Nice going, Fred." Delia said sounding impressed. "I like a girl who can come up with the ridiculous and make it work to their advantage."

"Aw, it was nothing. Just a stunning revelation of my true path in life, that's all."

"Come again, honey?" Roger asked looking confused. Fred walked over to her parents.

"Look - I could go home with you and pretend the last five years didn't happen. - I could even pretend to have a normal life. - But the truth of it is... Well, I'm not normal anymore. I guess what I'm getting at is... - I-I missed you both so bad. But - I belong here." She turned to the gang. "Un-unless I don't. Which if- if you all don't wanna put up with me, I completely understand..."

"Let's put it to a vote, shall we?" Wes offered. "All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion passed. Good. You're staying." The gang smiled at each other, then turned to smile at Fred.

**Liam hates bugs. What person doesn't? I hate bugs. Next chapter is another canon. The one after that, I have something special planned. Canon, but with a little bit of a twist in it. Comment and Review.**


	10. Billy

Chapter 10: Billy

**Chapter finally up. Sorry for the wait. I had school and a number of job interviews. But it's now up. Hope you all like. Enjoy!**

"Don't stiffen up." Delia ordered.

"Yeah, you either." Cordy said. She was training with Delia in the basement of the Hyperion. Cordy had asked Liam and Delia to train her, but Liam had to look into the Orb of Danzalthar, so he refused. That left Delia to train Cordy. She didn't mind. She liked Cordy and Cordy liked her in return. Cordy raised the sword in her hands and they started moving through an exercise with Delia guiding her movements.

"Alright. A good defense is about moving the line of attack. When the bad guy comes at you, you want to step off the line," She explained as she adjusted Cordelia's grip on the sword and positioned her correctly. "like this." She jumped back to avoid the sword slicing her belly open. "creating a new one. Every time you do, your opponent will be forced to adjust. Always make the other guy work."

"Okay. Move the line. Then what?" Delia unsheathed her own sword that she put to the side.

"Then - just keep moving the line. You'll be able to keep an attacker busy until... - You know."

"What?" Cordy asked with a raised eyebrow. "Until he dies of old age or until 'you' and your hubby swoop in to save me?" She shook her head. "Delia, I didn't ask you to train me so I could stave. I already know how to stave. 'Now' I need to learn how to fight!"

"And I was getting to that." Delia said. "I'm a slayer, I know these things. Men-folk aren't always around to protect the women-folk, you know? Women need to know how to fight too. Besides, what if we have to fight Angelus."

"Hopefully that's a day that's just a few short years off of 'never'!"

"Tell me about it. Okay." Delia raised her sword and took a stance beside Cordy and she copied her movements. "When you put an adversary down, you wanna make sure he doesn't get up again. So, like I showed you..." They moved through an exercise parallel to each other. "Force the other guy to counter and he'll open himself up something like this. We'll go half-speed until..." Delia put her sword down.

"No need, I got it." Cordy interrupted her. "Three years of Varsity Cheer Squad, I only ever had to be shown a move once."

"You know, Cordelia," Delia chuckled. "Handling a lethal weapon is a 'little' different from shaking a pom-pom."

"Ready! O-kay!" Cordy came at Delia with the sword full-speed, ending with her up against the wall the sword inches away from her throat. This totally got Delia off guard. She was surprised out how fast Cordelia picked up on movements.

"Whoa. Easy there." Delia chuckled, looking impressed. She trained slayers in the future, and she rarely saw one with Cordelia's determination and potential. "Go team."

"What was that about being the slayer?" Cordy teased.

…

Delia emerged from the bathroom in her and Liam's room. They had both picked out a small suite, just big enough for the two of them, when they both started living in LA. Liam was over at a desk looking at papers. She went over behind him and hugged him.

"You going to come with me to Wes'?" she asked.

"In a little bit." Liam answered still looking at the papers. He was busy into research about the orb, but it wasn't going well. "This thing has gone through hands throughout history. They are only vague references to power being held by tyrants, but's just about it. There are even paintings and pictures of what could be considered the orb, but nothings clear."

"Should I be worried that you'll leave me for the orb?" Liam put down the book he was looking at and held Delia's hands. She was still hugging him from behind.

"If I find out where this thing is, I would bring you along."

"Because you love me?"

"That. And because I know that you could never resist saving my ass." They both chuckled. They were both silent for a minute. "I'm gonna find this thing, Del. I'm gonna find it and we are going to have the future we both want."

"What if it isn't entirely the future we want?"

"As long as I have you, and the future isn't having an apocalypse, it's perfect." Delia smiled and kissed Liam on the cheek.

…

A few hours later, the AI team was at Wes' apartment. Gunn and Liam were sitting on the couch playing a video game. Fred was sitting on the arm of the couch next to Gunn watching. Wes was pouring Cordy and Delia cups of tea in the kitchen.

"It's inspiring to see you like this." Wes complimented Cordy. "The initiative you've shown in training with Delia. Taking responsibility. I'm proud of you."

"Well, never hurts to be prepared." Cordy said.

"That's why I never go anywhere without a knife." Delia said. "Liam insisted on it. And it turned out to be very handy."

"Hm. I agree on both parts." Wes said. "We should all be battle ready. Every one of us."

"Dead! So dead! So very, very dead." Gunn hollered from the living room. "Just how dead are you, huh?"

"Only part. But just you wait." Liam countered smiling evilly. "You'll find I'm full of surprises." Wes looked at the three of them through the open kitchen door.

"I was thinking, perhaps I'd enter into a similar training arrangement with our Fred." Wes suggested. Delia and Cordy eyed him at the same time. They knew that Wes was having feelings for Fred. Especially after the look on his face when she decide to stay with them.

"Oh, hey, if you think she can help you fight, why not?" Cordy joked. Wes gave her a look. "I'm kidding."

"Wesley, if you wanna get to know Fred better, maybe the next time you have her over for an intimate dinner for two, you won't ask the rest of us to come along." Delia suggested.

"Ah, I don't... I mean..." Wes stumbled with the right words to say. Delia and Cordy both raised their eyebrows. "Was I 'that' obvious?"

"No!" Gunn cried out dropping his face into his hands.

"Yes! Ha, ha!" Liam cheered as he just killed Gunn's character. "Who's dead now?"

"I don't think anybody else noticed." Cordy whispered to Wes.

"She is a rather extraordinary young woman." Wed said eyeing Fred. A dreamy quality catching in his voice, causing Delia and Cordelia to smile. "Still, the last thing any of us should be doing is - coupling - with each other, I mean. Office romances, even under the most 'normal' circumstances..."

"Hey." Delia said, cutting him off. "I found my soul mate on the verge of an apocalypse and married him as it got started. And, if you haven't noticed, just look at Buffy and Angel. If they can make it work, I think the rest of you guys can." She paused and look thoughtful. "I'm actually debating whether or not to be insulted by what you just said."

"Well, you all have somehow found a way to work around it."

"We don't live in normal circumstances." Cordy said. "I mean, what are the odds of any of us actually finding someone out there who can deal with the kind of stuff we have to deal with? I don't know. Maybe we 'are' meant..."

"For each other?" Wes finished.

"Actually I was gonna say 'to be alone.'

"Hey, what did I just get down saying?" Delia asked, now looking insulted.

"But how often does a guy meet a slayer in the future, or even a slayer to meet a guy like Liam?" Cordy asked. Delia looked away, sipping her tea. It was very common if one knew about the slayers. "But what the heck - Wesley, if you like her, 'tell' her. Just go right up to her and…" Cordy started to frown and sway a little. "hug her into little pieces." Cordy got hit by a vision and collapsed on the floor. Gunn and Liam jumped off the sofa and ran into the kitchen.

"Easy." Liam said as he helped Cordy into a chair.

"Convenience store, man attacking a woman. His wife - it's his wife."

"How many convenience stores we got on the Westside?"

"Well," Fred began to say. "Even if you just include Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Malibu only, the combined populations is something like a hundred thirty thousand people spread over more than thirty square miles, and given that..."

"A lot." Gunn finished for her.

"I was - getting there."

"Alright. We go in two teams." Wes said. "Gunn, you and I..."

"No. It's too late." Cordy said. "You can't save her. This murder happened a week ago." She looked up at the group. "Why would they show this to me now?"

…

Cordy was sitting at her desk in the Hyperion. She got up as Wes dropped a thick file onto the counter.

"What's this?" Cordy asked looking at it.

"Everything." Wes replied. "Everything about the crime I believe you saw in your vision. Police reports, husband's written confession, captures from the convenience store's video surveillance cameras..." The rest of the A.I. Team joined Cordy in picking up papers from the file. "...and I have to caution all of you, the medical examiners crime scene photos. Cordelia..."

"Maybe you shouldn't be looking at that." Liam said reaching out and taking the crime scene photos of the dead elderly woman away from her.

"Tell that to the Powers." Cordy said. "They already ran the THX version in my head, remember? How did you get this stuff?" She asked Wes.

"I did it the old-fashioned way." Wes said. "I bought it."

"The police sold you this stuff?" Fred said looking some papers.

"Not exactly. A source. Someone who has access. Usually they sell to the tabloids, when the victims are - more high profile."

"Charlene Baird." Gunn said looking at some papers form the file.

"The victim. She and the perpetrator were married for thirty years, no history of domestic violence."

"Why'd he do it?" Delia asked curiously.

"He says she wouldn't listen to him. He was trying to get her to stop talking."

"Sounds like some sorta wife joke a comedian would talk about." Liam commented.

"I don't get it." Gunn said. "This guy confessed. Crime solved. Why are the Powers airing re-runs in Cordy's head?"

"Nothing is ever what it seems at first." Liam said looking at one of the pictures from the surveillance cameras. He looked a little closer at it. "And once again, sayings are right." He put the photo on the counter. "Eleven twenty four, twenty minutes before the crime occurred. Look who's there." Wes looked at a person in the background of the picture with the magnifying glass. He recognized him. Wes handed the picture to Gunn.

"Oh, boy." Gunn said.

"What? - What?!" Cordy asked taking a photo and looking at the man Liam pointed out. "Okay. Kinda cute. So, who is he?" No one answered her. "Guys?" Gunn handed the photo to Delia and showed her the man.

"Great." She said.

"OK, who is this guy?" Cordy asked looking rather impatient.

"It's the guy I saved form the hell prison to stop those visions that were affecting you." Liam said. Everyone went very quiet. Cordy looked shocked and started to pace quickly back and forth, holding the photo in her hands.

"You're sure this is him? This is the guy?" She asked hoping the answer was 'no'.

"You pull someone from a hell dimension, you tend to remember their face. Yeah. - That's him." Cordy slowly sinks down into a chair.

"Well, then - now we know why the Powers made me experience that woman's death. - She died because of me."

"No." Liam said immediately.

"Yes! Cordelia said firmly. "Liam, if he's somehow responsible, then so am I."

"You're not the one who broke him out and put him back on the streets." Liam countered. "I did that."

"For me. You did it to save me."

"And I would let the world burn it meant saving people I love." He glanced over to Delia who looked at him in return. Liam went over and crouched down in front of Cordy. "Hey. - Hey, whatever's happening now, you're not responsible for this - and neither am I. - But I know who is."

…

Lilah was pouring herself a drink. She jumped a little as the door to her dimly lit apartment is suddenly kicked open, revealing Liam, in disguise as Angel, standing in the brightly lit hallway.

"That's a very dramatic entrance." Lilah said. "Except for the part where you can't enter." Liam was about to enter, but remembered that he to acted like his father, which meant not going into anyone's place without invitation.

"You're a little jumpy there, Lilah." Liam said.

"It's been a long day at the office."

"Then you know that your boy is on the loose. You know what he's doing." Lilah sighed.

"It's been brought to my attention." As she walked closer to the door, Liam saw that her face was black and blue from what looked like a beating.

"God. Are you...?"

"I'm fine. You should see the other guy."

"I plan to."

"Billy never touched me, friend."

"I know. He has some power. He makes people..."

"Billy never touched me, and you can't touch him. Nobody can. Billy as in Blim? As in Congressman Nathan Blim's nephew? That family is the closest thing this country has to royalty. They'd own half the eastern seaboard even if they weren't clients of ours. The law won't go near him."

"I'm not the law."

"This isn't some three horned Gurnarbeast you can just chop into meatloaf!"

"Why are you protecting him after what he did?"

"I'm sorry, but this deep chivalric concern coming from the only man I know who 'definitely' wants to kill me, is a bit much on a day like this."

"Your hands are shaking."

"Stay away from my client." She closed the door in Liam's face.

…

Wes' car pulled off the side of a road and its lights go out. Delia rides on her motorcycle, with Liam in back, and stop right behind Wes. Gunn and Wes get out and walk up to the gates of a big estate. Liam and Delia get off the bike and follow suit.

"This is it." Wes said. "The Blim estate." He let out a puff of air as he took in the fifteen foot high gates that encircled the property.

"Not very welcoming, is it?" Gunn deadpanned.

"I don't suppose it'll do much good to ring the bell either." Wes said eyeing the gate for any weak points.

"How about we sneak in, dressed up like security guards or something?"

"Well, that's a possibility. Or we could..." Liam and Delia both leaped straight up to the top of the gate. They dropped down on the other side and disappeared into the bushes.

"So... - wanna go next?"

"I guess we wait here." Wes said eyeing the gate.

"Yeah."

…

Liam and Delia ran towards the house. They saw Billy through one of the glass doors, talking on the phone. Liam and Delia made their way to the glass doors. Billy lowered the cordless and looked out, directly at the two. Liam ran out from behind a bush, with Delia following suit, jumped over a low wall, pick up a metal patio chair and tossed it through the glass doors, shattering them. Billy stood unmoved. He tossed the phone aside as Liam stepped in through the doors. Delia came in behind him, unsheathing her sword. Liam still had his glamour charm on, so he still looked like Angel.

"Why doesn't it surprise me that I can just walk right in here without an invitation?" Liam said. He knew that a vampire could walk in uninvited because he could smell the Billy was part demon when he got him out of the hell prison.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned you have a standing invitation." Billy said.

"You're not a right guy, Billy." Delia said. "You're not quite human either, are you?"

"Not quite. More than you two."

"You like to hurt women, do you, Billy?" Liam taunted him. "That make you feel like a man?"

"I have never hurt a woman in my life. - I just like to watch."

"Not anymore." Delia said.

"Oh?"

"You're going back."

"Really? 'cause I don't think so."

"Los Angeles Police department" They all heard a woman's voice say.

"Drop the weapon. Hands were we can see 'em. Turn around. - Slowly!" came a man's voice. Liam raised his hands and turned to face the shattered doors. Delia dropped her sword and did the same. Billy stepped up beside him before he can speak.

"You're looking for me." Billy asked.

"William Blim?" the female cop said.

"That's right. I'm the one that called you. Did you find the body? Was it where I said it would be?"

"William Blim we're taking you into custody for questioning."

"Oh, yes" Billy said smiling and turned to look at Liam and Delia. "I should think you would."

"Sanchez, be sure you read him his rights." The male cop pulled out a pair of cuffs and walked up to Billy. Billy put one hand on the cop's wrist.

"Will those be absolutely necessary? I won't give you any trouble, officer. I'll come quietly." Sanchez turned back to look at the woman detective. She nodded. Sanchez led Billy out of the house.

"Who are you?" The female cop asked Liam and Delia.

"They're nobody." Billy answered. Liam and Delia watched the cops lead Billy away, reading him his rights as they go.

…

Wes hung up the phone in the Hyperion's reception.

"My contact at the city morgue confirms it." Wes said. "Her body was discovered earlier tonight. A young woman was reported missing three days ago. Someone phoned in a tip."

"Billy." Delia said disgustingly, crossing her arms. "That little punk planned it."

"It doesn't make sense." Gunn said. "I mean, even if he did it, he didn't do it, you know what I'm saying? So why confess? What does he get?"

"Out." Liam said. "It gets him out."

"Yeah, out of his palatial twelve million Dollar compound and into a holding cell at Men's central."

"Yes, but for how long?" Wes said.

"Well, an impenetrable cube of hell fire in a heavily guarded demon dimension couldn't do much, so my guess - regular bars?" Cordy said. "Not really going to be a problem."

"She's right." Liam said. "All he'll need to get out this time is his lawyer." Liam turned to go.

"Liam, what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna get there before Lilah does."

"And then what?" Gunn asked.

"Well, I took him out of one cell, I can take him out of this one, too."

"Wait!" Delia ran over to Liam and stopped him from leaving. "Liam, you can't barge into a police precinct and go all Terminator. Even if you do dress like him." Liam turned to her and held her hands.

"I'll be okay." Liam reassured her.

"It's dangerous." Cordy said. "He's dangerous. What if he lays his whammy on you?"

"He won't be conscious long enough to try."

"He's not there!" Fred said. Everyone turns to look at her. "I just heard it on the police scanner. The patrol car carrying Billy never made it to the police station. There's been an accident."

…

Liam, Wesley, and Gunn arrived at the crime scene. An ambulance and another police car parked just beyond the stopped patrol car. The backside door was open and bent out of shape as if it had been kicked open from the inside with tremendous force. Wes walked away from the scene and met up with Gunn.

"There was an altercation between the officers who transporting Billy." We informed him. "One of them attacked his partner. She was forced to shoot him. The female's been taken to a local hospital."

"So, maybe she can tell us something," Gunn said. "like what Billy did to her partner before he snapped."

"It wouldn't be a bad idea if one of us were standing by at the hospital visiting a sick relative."

"Maybe happen to strike up a conversation with the hospital staff or one of her buddies?"

"Maybe."

"I'm on it." Gunn left and Wes walked over to where Liam was standing across the road from the patrol car.

"The blood in that car?" Liam said sniffing the air. "Some of it is his. - Not human." Liam walked down the road a little ways. "He came through here." Wes crouched down and touched the bloody handprint on the wall that Liam found.

"And recently." Wes added. "It's still wet." Wes picked up a piece of paper from the ground and pressed it up against the handprint. "I'll take a sample back to the hotel, see if I can determine just what sort of creature Billy is."

"Get Delia to help. Biology is pretty much her thing."

"Of course."

"I can find him."

"Be careful." Wes said turning to Liam, but Liam was already across the street and disappearing between two buildings. "Like father, like son." Wes sighed and pulled the paper away, checking to make sure he got a good print on the paper.

…

Cordy took a tazer from the weapons cabinet and put it into her shoulder bag. She picked up a crossbow and stowed it as well.

"What you doing?" Delia asked coming over. Cordy turned and see her.

"I'm gonna go run an errand." Cordy said. "Uh - a normal, everyday errand." Cordy walked to the side door. Delia moved to in front of her, blocking her exit. She had her arms crossed in front of her.

"Cordelia, I've learned a lot from being with Liam."

"Should I be disgusted?" Cordy asked raising an eyebrow.

"One: the best lies have a sense of truth to them. Two: always be specific when you lie. Your lie was poor. And I know exactly what you're going to do."

"Cordelia." Fred said coming over. Cordy turned to look at her. "I don't think you should do this."

"How can I not?" Cordy asked. "This guy is out because of me. I have to do something."

"You're not going to." Delia said. Cordy turned to face her. "Not without back-up." Delia moved around Cordy and got her sword from the weapons cabinet. "I'm coming with you." Cordy smiled and they opened the door and walk out. Fred stood there for a moment then turned as Wes came in the main doors.

"Fred! You're here." Wes said. "Good, I was hoping you would assist me." He lifted up a bag with the handprint in it. "I managed to lift a sample of Billy's blood. Maybe we can identify his demon lineage and somehow figure out how his power works. Would you hand me the…" He looks up to see that Fred holding out some glass slides. "glass slides. Thank you." He gave her a smile. Forgetting about asking Delia for help.

…

Lilah went to answer a knock on her door. She opened the door to see Cordy and Delia standing there.

"Cordelia Chase, right?" Lilah said. "And some girl I haven't got the chance to know. Come here to gloat?"

"I can do that anywhere." Cordy said.

"Are you gonna invite us in?" Delia asked and stepped into Lilah's apartment. "Oh, wait. Not vampires." Cordy walked in past Lilah.

"Please, come on in you two." Lilah said sarcastically. She closed the door and walked after Cordy and Delia.

"I want you to tell me about Billy." Cordy immediately demanded.

"Everything you 'didn't' tell Angel." Delia added.

"Right." Cordy said, realizing that she night have given away Liam's identity if hadn't been for Delia. "Everything you 'didn't' tell Angel. I want you to help me stop him."

"And what makes you tow think I'm gonna do that?" Lilah asked.

"Well, there's your face - for starters."

"I know the risks of my job and I accept them." Lilah said picking up her drink.

"Then why where you crying five minutes ago?" Both Lilah and Delia were a little stunned at Cordy's statement. "There's not a thing about badly reapplied mascara that I don't know."

"I'm not Lindsey McDonald. I don't switch sides whenever it gets tough. And since when is this your job? I thought Angel was the dark avenger."

"Angel feels responsible for this guy because he brought him back from hell." Delia said.

"And I feel responsible because he did it to save me" Cordy added.

"You, who are actually responsible for the entire thing, feel nothing at all, because 'you' are a vicious bitch."

"So? You know me." Lilah shrugged.

"Please, I was you." Cordy said. "With better shoes."

"These are Boracchi."

"Fall collection?"

"Next spring."

"He's widened the heel."

"And rounded the toe."

"That won't work with pink."

"The pink is out this spring."

"Girls." Delia said getting both of their attentions. "We are all here about Billy. Not shoes. No matter how much I want it to be." She walked dup to Lilah. "Billy Blim makes people crazy."

"Not all people. Just men. He brings out a primordial misogyny in them. Turns them into killers."

"Then why didn't he do it to Angel?"

"Angel's seen him?"

"Yes, right before he escaped from the cops." Cordy said. Lilah let out a chuckle. "What's so witty?"

"Billy's touch works differently on different men. Some lose their mind in an instant. Others - can take hours. - Gee, I sure hope Angel isn't starting to feel testy."

"You better hope it." Delia growled, making Lilah back up a step.

"I know. I've seen his dark side."

"You really haven't. - I have to find Billy."

"And I'm gonna help you why?"

"You know that guy that you hired to hack into my visions?" Cordy asked. "What he did to me? What it felt like? I was cut, my face disfigured, and burning with pain every second not knowing if it was gonna end or just get worse till I died."

"So you think I owe you..."

"It's not the pain. It's the helplessness. The certainty that there is nothing you can do to stop it, that your life can be thrown away in an instant by someone else. He doesn't care. He'll beat you down until you stay down because he doesn't even 'think' of you as alive. - No woman should ever have to go through that, and no woman strong enough to wear the mantel of 'vicious bitch' would ever put up with it. – 'Where' is Billy going?" Lilah didn't answer right away.

"Let's make it simpler." Delia said and punched Lilah in the face, sending her back into a wall. She slumped to the floor and Delia stood towered over her. She unsheathed her sword and held it to Lilah's throat. "One more time."

…

Liam, disguised as Angel, walked up on two guys standing beside a taxicab, talking.

"He seemed like such a levelheaded guy, you know?" One man said. "Always polite, with the 'yes, sir' and the 'thank you, sirs.' And to lose it like that, I didn't see it coming, did you?"

"I got to say, I understand why he did it." The second man said. "I mean, there is a point, am I right? How many times do you feel like talking a fist to a customer?"

"One of your drivers finally snapped, huh?" Liam asked coming over.

"Yeah, he beat the hell out of his fare."

"A woman?"

"That surprise you? Probably sitting in the back, nagging, telling him how to drive. You know the type."

"Yeah. Probably had it coming to her, huh?"

"I'm just saying..." Liam grabbed the second guy by the shirt and pulled him close.

"Get out of here." Liam said to the first man. The first man walked off. "This driver who snapped? You're gonna tell me what his last stop was, right before he beat up that woman. - I'm just saying."

…

A man opened the door to his apartment as far as the safety chain will let him.

"I'm looking for Billy Blim?" Liam said.

"Are you a friend of his or what?" The man asked.

"Friend? To be honest I'm looking to kill the bastard."

"Oh. Come on in." the man undid the chain to let Liam in.

"Is he here?"

"No. He came and went."

"And everyone's okay? "Liam asked surprised. "Frankly I was expecting blood - carnage, you know - bad things."

"You gotta know the rules around Billy. Everyone in the family knows the rules. You never leave him alone with your girlfriend, keep him away from your pets and don't 'ever' let him touch you. Like, if he wants money you gotta leave it on the table and back away."

"Is that why he was here?"

"Yeah, he said he needed some - fun money. I just wanted to get rid of him."

"So can you explain something to me?" Liam said. "How come you invited me in after I told you I wanted to kill your cousin?" Liam smelled something. And it wasn't blood.

"You're Angel, right?" the man asked.

"Did Billy mention me?"

"No, no. There were these chicks here. Both cute. One brunette. Other had dark hair. Well, brunette said that a melodramatic guy named Angel would eventually show up."

"Cordy and Delia... - think I'm melodramatic?" Liam asked. Sure he was like his father, but was he melodramatic?

"Well, you did say that you were gonna kill my cousin."

"That's not melodrama, melodrama…" Liam grabbed Dylan by the shirt front. "They were here?!"

"So you're saying that melodrama is exaggerated emo..."

"This isn't a demo, this is real! Where did you send them?"

"Santa Monica. My family has a plane there. Billy said he wanted to fly some place. I don't know where. Vancouver, Tahiti, he didn't say. Hopefully far away." Liam slammed the guy to the wall.

"If they get hurt…..I'm gonna kill Billy. Then I'm coming for you."

…

An airplane was slowly taxiing down the dark runway. Cordy and Delia came out from behind the nose of a private plane and walked up to where Billy was standing on the tarmac with his back towards them.

"Billy?" Cordy said. Billy turned to them

"Yes? - Do I know you?" He asked.

"Not exactly. I thought we should meet. I'm the woman Wolfram and Hart tortured to get you out of your fire cell."

"Oh, I see. - And you're here to whine. Poor, helpless, battered woman who needs to vent her feelings about the injustice of it all."

"No, ass-wipe." Delia said. Cordy pushed the tazer up against Billy's stomach and he collapsed gasping to the ground. He looked up to see Cordy aiming a crossbow at him and Delia with her sword to his throat. "We're here to send you back." Billy slowly picked himself back up, never taking his eyes off the girls.

"You think I hate you because you're women. I don't."

"Gee, and here we were feeling special." Delia deadpanned.

"I don't hate women. I mean, sure, you're all whores who sell yourselves for money and prestige, but men are just as bad. Maybe even worse. They're willing to throw away careers or families, or even lives for what's under your skirt!"

"We're wearing pants." Cordy informed him.

"So, you can dress like men, talk like men?" Billy smiled. "Does that make you feel superior?"

"Actually, I'm feeling superior because I have an arrow pointed at your jugular."

"And I have a sword with the tip on it." Delia said. "But I don't need the sword to feel superior to you."

"You don't have the nerve to do it." Cordy took a step closer, so the tip of the arrow was almost up against Billy's throat. Delia just leaned a little so that the tip of her sword was touching his skin.

"Wrong again." Cordy said. Suddenly the crossbow and sword were pushed away and Liam stepped between them, pushing them both away.

"I can't let you do it, guys." Liam said.

"You saved me again!" Billy said. "I knew that you would."

"Liam," Delia said giving Liam a look.

"You know what he is!" Cordy said.

"Yeah, I do." Liam said. "Which is why I'm gonna waste this piece of garbage myself." Liam turned to hit Billy, but Delia caught a hold of his arm and held him back.

"Liam!" Liam turned to look at her. "He can't hurt us." Liam turned away from Delia, trying to pull his arm free, and Billy took a hold of Liam's face with both of his hands, staring into Liam's eyes.

"No, I won't hurt them." He said. "'I' won't hurt them at all!" Liam pushed Billy away from him and Liam took few quick breaths. Billy, Delia, and Cordy stared at Liam. Liam glanced back towards Delia. He started to inch back towards her. "Liam?"

"Del, get out of here." Liam said looking angry.

"No."

"And there it is again. Every time I tell you to do something, you do the exact opposite."

"Liam, you have to fight this."

"Don't fight it - feel it!" Billy said stepping closer to Liam. "You can, can't you? All that rage, all that hatred bubbling to the surface? I actually never done this to a vampire. Should be pretty entertaining."

"And another thing." Liam said stepping closer. Delia and Cordy were backing away. "Cordy with her constant annoying talking. Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap. Geez, it sounds like I'm taking care of a Shitzu."

"Hey! – I am nothing like a dog." Cordy said.

"But my biggest problem is you Delia. You are always disobeying me. I tell you to stay, you run off. I tell you to come when I tell you to, you come when you ever you want. I don't want to dress up for Halloween, and yet we do, and our bodies switch. You never listen to me!"

"Liam, please." Delia pleaded. "This isn't you."

"No it's not." Liam stopped and so did they. "This is." Liam ripped off his coat and shirt and morphed into his demon form."

"Jesus." Cordy whispered. Delia pushed her out of the way as Liam lunged at her. They grappled on the ground, but Delia wasn't doing well. Delia screamed and pushed Liam off of her. He got back up and roared at her. Delia didn't know what to do. Liam was attacking her and she couldn't defend herself.

"Liam, it's me." She screamed. She was hoping that she could somehow get through to Liam and bring him back. "Fight it." Liam lunged again at her and it took all of her strength to hold back his aggressive attacks. She grabbed a hold of his neck to prevent him from biting her and had another hand on his chest to stop him further. She pushed him away. "Liam, please." She begged. Tears were forming in her eyes. Liam didn't seem interested in listening. She could see in his eyes that they were turning from yellow to red. He was losing control. Delia remembered what Liam told her. If he lost control, then she had to use the tea they received form the gypsies. Luckily, she kept it on her ever since. She pulled out the bag that contained the vial with the tea. Liam lunged at her again. She held him back with one hand and brought out the vial. She was going to use it to bring Liam back. She was about to use it, but hesitated. What would actually happen to Liam? It isn't like they tested out the tea. What if it killed him? Her hesitating gave Liam enough time to swipe at her stomach, forming a nasty gash. She screamed in pain and dropped to her knees.

"Well, this it interesting." Billy said smirking. Liam turned to Billy as soon as he spoke. Billy' smile faded. Liam lunged at him. He hit Billy full force sending him flying to the ground. Cordy got up and went to Delia, who was on the ground, bleeding form Liam's attacks.

"Are you ok?" Cordy asked her. Delia didn't answer. She was more in shock at what had just happened. She watched as Liam and Billy fought with each other. Liam tossed Billy through the air. Billy rolled as he hit the ground, then came up on all fours. He smashed both hands hard against the ground. A shock wave radiated out from his hands then returned to them as a crack appeared in the ground between them. Both hands begin to glow a bright red. The red left his hands, flashed up his arms and Billy's eyes flash yellow. When Liam came back at him, he tossed him like a toy. Billy was now pretty clearly the stronger of the two. Cordy saw her crossbow lying on the ground. She picked it up and aimed it at the combatants, but Liam and Billy changed positions so often that she never had a clear shot. Liam roared loudly and threw Billy off of him. Billy got up to face him, but Liam wasn't in front of him anymore. Cordy fired her crossbow bolt at Billy. Billy caught it without even looking. He looked at the bolt in his hands then at Cordy. Cordy stared in Billy's direction, but not at Billy. Billy saw this and turned around to see Liam standing behind him. Liam lunged and got Billy on the ground. Liam clawed and bit Billy everywhere. Billy screamed in pain. Cordy and Delia stood watching, horror struck as Liam, literally tearing Billy apart. Blood started oozing out of Billy's body as Liam kept slashing and clawing at him. Then Billy was still. Liam breathed heavily then morphed into his human form. He stood up. His front was covered in Billy's blood. Some was dripping from his mouth. He snarled at Billy before walking back to Cordy and Delia. Cordy and Delia looked scared. Liam picked up his coat and covered himself. He looked to the girls.

"Cordy, take Delia and get her to a hospital." He said sternly. "Make sure she gets taken care of." He turned away from them and walked off. Cordy wasted no time in calling 911 and stopping Delia's bleeding.

…

A few days later, Delia was released from the hospital. She sold a story that she was attacked by some animal before Cordy came along and helped her. They arrived at the hotel and Fred told them that both Wes and Gunn got infected by Billy's blood and tried to kill her. Until she devised clever traps that knocked them both unconscious. Delia asked about Liam and Fred said that he had been in their room since that day.

Delia opened the door to her room and saw Liam pouring over the books and paper on the desk, researching the Orb of Danzalthar. Delia cautiously knocked on the door, letting Liam know she was there. He didn't register the noise.

"Liam." Delia said. "I think we should talk." He didn't said anything. He just kept reading. "Liam, I know that it was Billy that made you lose control. So I don't blame you."

"You promised." Liam said not looking up from his books.

"What?" Delia asked confused.

"You promised that you would be there to bring me back if I lost control. I did. You didn't." Delia remembered her promise. After they had acquired the tea that would reverse the hell energy's process, she promised that she would be there to help him come back to his normal self. She didn't do that.

"I'm sorry. I know that I promised but…."

"But what?" Liam said angrily getting up and facing her. "You were too scared? You didn't have the tea on you? You couldn't bear the thought of hurting me? Well guess what Del." Liam came over and lifted up her shirt, revealing the bandages on her torso. "You got hurt because of me."

"But I don't blame you." Delia said stepping back, putting her shirt down. "You were under the effects of Billy's touch."

"But you promised to be there to bring me back." Liam yelled. "I trusted you to be there to help me. How can I trust you to do that, if you couldn't do it a few days ago?" Delia was speechless. Liam was yelling at her, all because she didn't want to kill him.

"Liam. I wanted to save you. But I didn't know if the tea would help you. I care about you too much to risk you dying."

"Get out." Liam whispered.

"What?"

"Go." He said louder.

"But…"

"NOW!" he yelled at her. Delia stood, staring at the man she loved, telling her to leave. She backed out of the room slowly, then turned and ran out. She was crying the whole way down to the lobby and out the doors. She didn't know what else to do. She felt that Liam needed time and she needed to give him his space. She hopped on to her motorcycle and rode off. She was going to go to some other people she could talk to. She headed right for Sunnydale.

…

Liam just watched his wife leave the room. He had just yelled at her for doing something that he would have done in her position. He went back to his desk and leaned on it. He looked at the paper and books he had laid out. He slid them all off the desk in a fit of rage.

"Wow." He heard a familiar voice say. "Angry much?"

"Go away Cordy." Liam said as calmly as he could be. "You don't understand."

"But I think I got the cliff notes." Cordy said walking more into the room. "I could hear everything from across the hotel."

"Hearing what we said doesn't mean you could understand what exactly is going on."

"Well let me take a crack at it. The love of your life couldn't bring herself to save you, all because she feared that it might kill you. And you are angry with her because she chose love over death?"

"I'm not angry because of what she did." Liam clenched his hands into fists, leaning against the desk.

"So why are you angry? Because she didn't keep her promise."

"Yes… No… I don't know."

"You don't know why you're angry? Well if you don't know, how am I so that I can help you?"

"You can't help me."

"Why?"

"BECAUSE I'M ANGRY AT MYSELF!" Liam shouted and grabbed the desk and threw it against the wall, smashing it to bits. Cordy stood stunned at the sight. "I'm angry because I wasn't strong enough to control my inner demon." Liam had tears in his eyes. "I couldn't control myself and my demon attacked Delia. I nearly killed her. If Billy hadn't spoken up and I hadn't remembered why I had been there in the first place…oh god." He dropped down to his knees and began to cry. "I nearly killed her. And I just yelled at her, telling her to leave. I yelled at the one person who helped save me. She could still have done that and I pushed her away. I am just like my father." Cordy had enough. She came over and slapped Liam upside of the head. "What was that for?" he asked looking at her and rubbing his head.

"Because you're being stupid. Newsflash buddy, you're not Angel. Sure you are like him in a lot of ways, but you're also like Buffy. And just because she got angry at someone and sent them packing, doesn't mean she left it like that. She would always try to fix whatever mess she caused. She's really stubborn that way. So if you want to be like your father and let this tension between you two tear you apart, be my guest. But if you want this woman who saved you, if you want Delia to be in your life, then be like your mother and go after her and make it right." Liam sat there staring a Cordy. Her words sinking in to him. She was right. He wasn't going to make the same mistakes that his parents made that made them miserable.

"Cordy." Liam said. "Do you think I can fix this?"

"I'm Cordelia. I don't think. I know. You and Delia will make your apologizes and move on to make-up sex and then we'll be right back where we were before you got all stupid." Liam laughed. She was right. He had to go fix it.

"I'll fix it. But I need to gather my thoughts. Otherwise, I might make things worse."

"Good idea. Just do it fast before she decides to marry some stud in the past." With that, Cordy left Liam in his room. Liam got up and sat on his bed. He looked at his hand that had the Claddagh ring on it. He had to might things right. He got up off the bed and went out of room. Determined to make amends to the mess he created by being, as Delia would call him, a jackass.

**Liam got angry, became a jerk, and hurt Delia's feelings. Now he's got to fix it. I wanted to get a fight going between these two because, hey, no relationship is perfect. I though this chapter would be a good place to start because, Liam doesn't have the loss of hatred that his father had. So, fighting point made. Next chapter will be make up session. It will also be Tabula Rasa. An episode that a lot of people wanted to see. So stay tune. **


	11. Tabula Rasa

Chapter 11: Tabula Rasa

**OK. Here is Tabula Rasa. This was hard to right. It's kinda long, but enjoyable. Delia arrives after having a fight with Liam. She wishes that she could forget it. She's going to get her wish, sorta. Dawn does a bad thing which leads to an even greater bad thing. Read to find out. Enjoy.**

Angel and Spike were walking through the cemetery on patrol. They decided to let Faith have a break tonight to hang out with the rest of the girls at the Summer's house.

"So how's the new place, Spike?" Angel asked.

"It's got its perks." Spike said. "Kinda miss my crypt though."

"I thought you and Faith had a fight about that."

"We did. Doesn't mean I have to like the outcome." Angel could sense Spike's annoyance.

"You guys seem to have been having more and more fights now a days."

"Hey, we all can't be you and Buffy."

"Buffy and I have our fights." Angel chuckled. "We just don't have them often."

"How do you two do that?" Angel was about to answer but they noticed that they were surrounded by seven vampires.

"Seven on two. Nice odds." Angel shrugged.

"Bet ya a beer that I can get more than you." Spike challenged, smiling mischievously.

"You're on." Angel said smiling. The vamps attacked. Angel dodged a punch from one vamp and kicked another. Spike grabbed hold of one and flung him into another vamp, sending both of them to the ground. He whipped out a stake a staked the vampire that went right for him.

"That's one." Angel took out his own stake and staked two vamps in row.

"Two for me. Be ready to buy me that beer Spike." Angel and Spike were back to back. Ready for the next wave. Before the vamps could attack them, they all heard someone whistle. They all turned to see Delia standing a few yards away with an angry look on her face. "Delia?"

"What she doin' here?" Spike said sounding just as surprised as Angel.

"Hey, you vamps wanna waste your time on other pathetic vamps?" Delia taunted. "Or do you wanna face a real challenge?" The vampires charged at her.

"Hey! What about us?" Spike yelled. The vampires attacked Delia. She unsheathed her sword and sliced the head off of the first vampire and stabbed another. She quickly took her sword out and sliced off its head. The last two vampires attacked her from opposite sides. Delia punched and kicked them at the same time. She strode over to one vamp, grabbed his hair and threw into the other, sending them both to the ground. She put her foot on the back of the vampire that was on top of the second vampire. They were pinned. Delia lined up the blade of her sword with the necks of the vampires like a golf club about to hit a golf ball. She raised her sword and swung, scoring a hole in two. Spike and Angel stood frozen at the sight they just witnessed. They just saw Delia take out four vampires in record time. She stood at the spot where she finished of her foes. Angel noticed her shaking. He took a few cautious steps towards her.

"Delia. Are you Ok?" Angel asked caringly, but cautiously. He had his fill of emotional unstable slayers. His pregnant wife was proof.

"I'm fine." Delia said not turning to him. She sheathed her sword and proceeded to walk away from them. Angel increased his pace so that he was right next to her. Spike followed after them.

"Hey, what's wrong? The only time I've seen slayers take out vamps like that is when they're angry or sad."

"I said I'm fine." Delia snapped.

"I'm going with angry." Spike said.

"I'm FINE!" Delia shouted turning to them. But they saw that she wasn't. She had tears coming from her eyes. They could see that she was trying hard to fight back them, but she wasn't succeeding.

"Delia, you're not fine." Angel said. "You're crying, and I can tell you're angry." Delia looked away from him.

"What happened?" Spike asked. "Did Liam piss you off?"

"That's none of your business." Delia yelled. Both Angel and Spike flinched at Delia's outburst. Spike cocked his head and was about to speak. Suddenly Delia grabbed him and Angel, pulling them both to the ground. A stake went flying through the air where Spike just was, ending up stuck in a tree. They all looked up. A demon with the head of a shark, wearing a flamboyant suit stood and behind him were two vampire minions.

"Easy, boys." The shark demon said. "No need to get physical-like." The demon chuckled. Delia got up, wiping away any stray tears. Spike and Angel got up too. "Is there, Mister Spike?"

"You know this guy?!" Angel asked surprised.

"Yeah." Spike said and addressed the demon. "Whadda you want?" The demon started walking forward.

"You know me," the demon said. "uh ... there are a lot of things I would like, Mister Spike." He pulled the stake out of the tree. "A house in Bel Air ..." he started walking toward Spike. "With a generously sized swimming pool ... and of course, the forty Siamese that you owe me." The demon put his arm around Spike's neck, pulling Spike close to him.

"Take it easy, you'll get your kittens." Spike said. Angel rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I trust you, Mister Spike." The demon let him go.

"Oh god, what is it with you guys?" Delia asked. "Why kittens? Why can't you just use money like everybody else?"

"She's funny. I like funny in a girl."

"I just need a little more time." Spike said.

"Time, time, time! Is what turns kittens into cats! Look, I don't wanna see anyone get hurt." He turned away. "Boys." The demon walked a few steps away. The vampires grinned and walked forward. Delia leaped up, grabbed a tree branch, and kicked the first vampire with both feet. He landed at the demon's feet. The demon turned back.

"Then you'd better close your eyes." Delia warned. She pushed Spike and Angel aside and punched the second vampire a couple of times. He went down. Delia folded her arms across her chest.

"She's the Slayer, boss." The vampire said.

"Ahh, good for you." The demon said. "The vampire slayer. Have you ever given any thought to, uh, freelance work? A little debt collecting, perhaps?" Delia continued to stand there with her arms crossed, giving the demon a very angry look. She wasn't in the mood for job offers by demons.

"No thank you." She said snarly.

"Boss, he's gone." A vampire said. "Spike has split." Both Delia and Angel looked surprised and looked around.

"Well, that's what I get for socializing." The demon said. "All right, come on, boys, we'll locate Mister Spike and, uh, 'talk' to him a little more." The demon adjusted his tie, turned to go, and then turned back to Delia. "Oh. It was a genuine pleasure." The demon and his minions left. Delia still looked angry. A hand was placed upon her shoulder and she immediately grabbed it and flipped the person over her head on to the ground. It was Angel. Angel looked a little surprised.

"Oh. Sorry." Delia said crouching down to Angel and helping him up.

"It's ok." Angel said. "Buffy's done that to me a number of times." He dusted himself off and turned to face her. "Now, are you ready to tell me what's bothering you?" Delia sighed and looked sad again.

…

Buffy, Dawn, Faith, Willow, and Tara were in the Summer's living room watching a movie together.

"Remind me again why we're watching a cartoon movie again." Faith said. They were watching _Fantasia._

"Just a little something to remind me of how dangerous magic can be if you abuse it." Willow informed her. She was really progressing in her magic control. She hadn't done a lot of spells since she had brought Liam back. She hadn't really done any spells since that night. She wanted to be extra careful not to abuse the magicks and be evil. And also lose Tara.

"And I want to get back into watching cartoons." Buffy said. "As soon as Connor is born, I'll be doing that a lot."

"I can't wait until he's here." Dawn said. "I was so hoping for him to arrive when you went through Backton Hips."

"Franklin's kicks"

"Braxton-Hicks." Tara corrected the both of them. "And I can't wait either. It would be great to be an aunt."

"Yeah. We can take him to the park, the carousel. Oh, we can take him to see Santa." Willow said excitedly. "Except I might not be there because, well you know, Jewish."

"I just want him to come so that I can stop being pregnant." Buffy said. "I really want to be thin again. And I want to go out and slay things too."

"Don't worry B." Faith said. "That kid'll come out when he's ready. Then you and I can catch up on our Slayer score." The front door opened and Angel and Delia came through. The girls looked up at the new arrival and saw Delia's sadden, crying face. They immediately turned off the movie and went into caring mode. Everyone but Buffy got up and went to Delia.

"Delia? What's wrong?" Willow asked caringly. Delia didn't answer. She just closed her eyes and let a few tears fall.

"Come on." Faith said and led her to the couch with Buffy. Delia sat down and hugged herself, looking down.

"Delia, is everything alright?" Buffy asked. Delia shook her head. "What happened? Is Liam Ok?"

"I don't know." Delia whispered. "We….we…I…" She couldn't form a single sentence.

"Did something happen to him?" Buffy asked sounding anxious. Delia nodded her head. Everyone had a face of shock. Buffy felt her heart sink. "Is he…did he?"

"He's….alive." Delia managed to say. Buffy felt a wave of relief. But she didn't understand why Delia was crying.

"Delia, what happened?" Buffy said sternly. She wanted to know if anything bad happened to her son. Delia lifted her head, but kept her eyes closed. Tears fell from her eyes.

"It was stupid." She said. "Liam and I…..we….We were trying to find this guy named Billy. Liam saved him from a hell prison to save Cordelia. He had the power to make men feel rage and hate towards women. Liam went out to find him. Cordy wanted to go out feeling responsible because he caused so many deaths. I went along to protect her. When we found him, Liam showed up, wanting to take him out himself. But Billy touched Liam, making him angry towards me. He changed in to his demon and attacked me. I fended him off and then he went after Billy, killing him. I was in the hospital for a few days. After I left, I went to Liam to talk about what happened. He yelled at me because I had something that could help him turn back to his normal self if he ever lost control." Delia tried to compose herself to tell the story. But with each word she said, the images of the events played out in her head, making her cry more. Everyone was silent as she told her tale. "I had something that could have helped him, but I didn't use it because I was afraid that it might kill him. I didn't want to do it. And that gave him the advantage to…to…" She trailed.

"Delia." Angel said. "What did Liam do?" Delia lifted her shirt, revealing her bandages to them. The girls gasped at the sight. Angel was speechless. Buffy placed a hand over her mouth.

"Liam did that to you?" Dawn asked.

"He did it when he lost control." Delia clarified. "I think he was more angry with himself for doing it than he was about me not stopping him. He said that he couldn't trust me and yelled at me to leave. So I left." After finishing, Delia broke down sobbing. Buffy put a hand around her, consoling her. "I just want to forget it ever happened." Buffy looked up at Angel and they both shared a look. Liam had yelled at his wife and made her hurt so much so she left.

"It's alright Delia." Buffy said. "I'm sure everything will work out in the end. For now, you can stay with us for as long as you need."

"I'll take her upstairs." Tara offered. Delia got up and allowed Tara to walk her upstairs to her room. The rest of the gang stayed in the living room in silence.

"Gee, I hope that everything will work out between them." Dawn said hopefully.

"Oh, they will." Buffy said confidently with an angry look on her face. "No son of mine will yell at his wife and tell her to leave and get away with it."

"I'll call the team in LA and get him on the phone." Angel said. "Just might have a few words with him myself." He turned and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Oh, I nearly forgot." Willow said and turned to Dawn. "Dawn, don't you have some test tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Dawn replied. "But it's no big deal. I'll pass it."

"You better." Buffy said. "Otherwise, you can't got to that party next week."

"Don't worry. I got this test in the bag."

…

Dawn stood by her locker, looking at the 'F' on her test that she took. She wasn't going to that party. Her friend, Janice came over.

"Hey." Janice said. "What's up?" Dawn held up her test to her. "Oh. Guess that means you won't be coming to the party."

"Doesn't look like it." Dawn said as they started walking. "Buffy is going to kill me when I get home."

"Why tell her?" Dawn looked at her friend quizzically. "I mean it's just one test. And if she doesn't know about it, she can never tell you that you can't go."

"I can't lie to Buffy. She's my sister. We've really gotten a lot closer. I can't betray her trust by lying to her."

"What's one lie between sisters? I've lied to my sister."

"But your sister isn't your legal guardian and doing all she can to take care of you and deal with social services and stuff."

"Doesn't she have a new husband? And a baby?"

"Yes. And she's trying to juggle all of that too. I can't complicate her life by lying."

"Look, Dawn, you have to come to the party. I hear that Damon Werth is going to be there. And I hear that he likes you."

"Really?" Dawn asked excitedly.

"Yeah. So if you don't come, you might just miss your chance." Dawn thought about it. If she lied to Buffy, she'd be betraying her sister. But if she lied and went to the party, she could hook up with an awesome guy. The decision was obvious.

"Ok, I'll be there." Dawn said.

"Great." The bell rang. "Great. Biology." Janice said dully.

"See ya later." Dawn said to her friend.

…

Delia was sitting at the round table at the magic looking at a book. She wasn't reading it. She was just looking like she was reading so that not a lot of people would bother her. She wasn't crying anymore, but she still felt down because of the fight. She and Liam rarely fought at all. Most of their fights were sparing matches. And even then, they still smiled at each other afterwards. Other times when it was heated, they would say what was on their minds and fix it right then and there. This was different, and Delia didn't know how to handle it. It was the first time they fought and it brought her to tears. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to go to Liam and tell him how sorry she was about everything. But she didn't know if he would accept it, or even stop being mad at her. She left LA to give him some space and time. Maybe she just needed to give him some more for now. A single tear fell down her face.

"I'd offer some words of advice," She heard a familiar British voice say. "Or possibly some tea."

"Can't you see I'm busy?" Delia said.

"Unless you find that particular page you've been staring at for the past 20 minutes interesting, I'd say you aren't."

"I'm not in the mood Giles." Delia said wiping her tear away.

"Come now." Giles took a seat next to her. "I've been with this group long enough to realize when someone is not feeling their best, and usually I'm the one to give them words of encouragement."

"Did Buffy tell you what happened?"

"She gave me a summary of what you told her. Do you wish to talk about it?"

"Not really." Delia bowed her head, not wanting to look at Giles.

"Well then at least let me help by saying a few words." Giles offered. Delis just shrugged. "Very well, I believe your reason for not trying to bring Liam back when his demon took control was justified. You care an awful lot about him to risk killing him."

"I know that Buffy killed Angel to save the world." Delia countered lifting her head up and leaning on the table. "Liam told me the story about how she had to kill him even though his soul came back."

"Yes, and it nearly killed her to do so." Giles shuddered at the memories of Angelus and how he killed Buffy's friends and Jenny. How he tortured Buffy for months mercilessly. How Buffy ran off after killing him. "But it was something she had to do. She's unique that way. However in your situation, you didn't have the sake of the world on your shoulders, and you believed that there was another way to bring Liam back. Which inevitably there was, so I'm told."

"Giles." Delia turned to look at him. "He trusted me to save him if it ever happened. I didn't do it, and he said he couldn't trust me." Delia was starting to feel really sad now.

"Well from my perspective, I'd say he's taking this a bit out of proportion. He shouldn't be mad at you all because you loved him enough to not risk his own life." Delia looked back down, not feeling any bit better. Giles sighed. "But I'm sure that if he loves you as much as you love him, he will come to you and make his apologizes. And you will make yours, and then you can be together without the world coming to an end."

"You think?"

"I do." Giles said smiling. Giles got up and left Delia to help customers. Delia placed her elbows on the table and held her head. What if Liam didn't come to her? What if she went to him and he wouldn't forgive her and throw her out like he did before? The mere thought of it made Delia even sadder.

…

Dawn came home after school and set her school bag down at the dining room table. She went into the kitchen and looked through then refrigerator for a snack to have. She got out some jelly and started making herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Angel walked into the kitchen and saw her.

"Hey Dawnie." Angel said cheerfully.

"Hi Angel." Dawn said, mouth full of PB and J. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Buffy and I came over to check on Delia, but she's not here."

"Where do you think she is?" Dawn asked swallowing.

"She's at the magic shop." Buffy said coming in looking tired. "She's fine, so Giles says."

"She still sad about Liam?"

"Yeah. Have you been able to get a hold of him?" She asked Angel.

"No." Angel said. "Cordy said he left to find Delia to apologize."

"He'd better get here soon." Buffy took a seat. "It's already been two days."

"I hope they work things out." Dawn said hopefully.

"Yeah. Speaking of, how did the test go?" Dawn stopped eating and stood stunned. She failed the test and couldn't go to the party. But she really wanted to go.

"Great." Dawn lied smiling. "I passed it with flying colors."

"Good for you." Angel said smiling.

"That's great." Buffy said. "Can I see it?" Dawn was now backed into a corner. How was she going to get out of this?

"Uh…you can't because…the test…..it was…oral." Dawn stuttered. Buffy raise an eyebrow at the statement.

"You took an oral exam in algebra?" Buffy asked sounding not convinced.

"Yeah. We had whiteboards and everything." Buffy and Angel looked at her, trying to sniff out her lie. Dawn stared back, trying to look like she told the truth.

"Ok." Angel trailed, not sounding convinced.

"Great. I'm gonna go find an outfit for next week." Dawn put her empty plate away and walked out of the kitchen. Angel and Buffy watched her leave. Angel and Buffy looked at each other and then followed Dawn out, stopping at her stuff in the dining room. Angel started rummaging through her things.

"Now I know where Liam got his nosey-ness from." Buffy said.

"I'm a detective." Angel countered. "This is what I do. Ah-ha!" He pulled out Dawn's algebra test and showed it to Buffy. She stared at it wide-eyed.

"She lied to us." Angel put the test down on the table.

"Dawn, can you come down here?" he called to her. Dawn came down a minute later.

"What is it?" Dawn asked. Angel held up her failed test. Buffy crossed her arms and gave her a stern look. Dawn looked at them in shock. "You went through my stuff?"

"You were a very poor liar." Angel said.

"Dawn, how could you lie to me?" Buffy accused.

"Buffy it's just one test." Dawn tried to reason.

"Dawn you need an education. And failing tests and lying about them isn't going to get you that."

"Says the college drop out."

"I dropped out so that I could take care of you. Like I am right now. You're grounded."

"What?"

"You heard me. You are not going to that party. You're grounded for the next two weeks."

"But I have to be at that party or…."

"Or what Dawn?" Angel asked crossing his arms. "Some guy you want to get together with is going to be with someone else? Notice how much Buffy and I don't care."

"Worst guardians ever." Dawn stated and stormed up the stairs, slamming her door. Buffy sighed and Angel went over to her and held her.

"I can't believe she lied to me." Buffy said. "After everything we've been through together."

"She' a teenager." Angel said. "She will act out at times." Buffy scoffed.

"My first born isn't even out and I'm already dealing with my son's marriage and a teenager's rebellion."

"And you're doing well. You will make a great mother." Angel rubbed her swollen stomach. "And our children will be great because of you."

"And you dad." Buffy said and hugged her husband.

…

Dawn stormed into her room and closed the door. She really wanted to go to the party and meet Damon, but now she couldn't. She wished that Buffy hadn't found that test of hers, or even asked about it. She and Angel always suspected a lie when one was told. She didn't know what to do. She wished that Buffy and Angel could forget about the test. An idea popped into her head. Dawn quietly left her room and went into Willow and Tara's bedroom. Willow and Tara always had some magical books and herbs lying around. She remembered a particular herb and a spell that Willow once mentioned. If she found it, she could go to the party. She looked through drawer after drawer, shelf after shelf, until she found what she was looking for. She looked at a book and found the herb she was looking for. She looked around, and sure enough, she found it on the dresser.

…

Buffy and Faith entered into the training room of the magic shop. Giles entered in after them, looking like he was about to do something he didn't want to do.

"So Giles." Buffy said. "What's so important that you couldn't discuss over the phone?"

"Yeah, G-Man." Faith said. "If I'm gonna keep my new place, I gotta look for jobs. And being called up, severely limits my time." She thought about what she just said. "Man, I can't believe I'm actually saying that I'm looking for a job."

"Get used to it."

"Well you might not look any further." Giles said turning to them. "There may be a spot for you at the shop. If you want it."

"What are saying Giles?" Faith asked curiously. Giles took off his glasses and sighed while cleaning them. He put them back on and looked at his two slayers.

"I have given this much thought and…..I've decided…To go back to England."

"What!?" Both slayers said in shock. They certainly weren't expecting this. The man that they both considered their father figure was abandoning them.

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"I have to." Faith shook her head and sat on a pile of exercise mats. Buffy walked over to the couch and sat on it, frowning. "You both have to be strong. I'm, I'm trying to-"

"Trying to, to what? Desert us?"

"Abandon us?" Faith said angrily. "Leave us all alone?"

"You both won't be alone." Giles said quietly. "You each have your own love one that will help you. I don't want to leave-"

"So don't. Please don't." Buffy begged. "I'm having a baby soon. Like real soon. Like, in the next few days soon. I can't do this without you."

"And I still need someone to train me." Faith said. "I need someone to help me become the slayer and learn all that shit."

"You both can handle whatever comes on your own." Giles said. "That's why I'm going. As long as I stay you both will always turn to me if something comes up that you feel that you can't handle, and I'll step in because, because ..." He paused and sighed. "Because I can't bear to see any of you suffer. Faith, you have gone through enough in your time and you don't deserve to deal with more, but it's about time you take control of your own life. Buffy, you're dealing with something that not a lot of people go through in their lives. Especially slayers. Believe me, I'm loathe to cause you more, but this..." Giles paused. Buffy looked sad. Faith looked angry. "I've taught you both all I can about being a slayer. Buffy, your mother taught you what you needed to know about life." Buffy looked away, pouting. "Faith, you've learned how to take hold of your life when things turn bad. And you are doing well at making your new life. But you ... you both are not gonna trust all of that until you're forced to stand alone."

"But why now?" Buffy asked. "Now that Connor is nearly here?"

"Now more than ever. The temptation to give up is gonna be overwhelming, and I can't let-"

"So I won't! No giving up. You can be here, and I can still be strong." She stared at Giles anxiously.

"Buffy, Faith, I've thought this over ... and over. I believe it's the right thing to do.

"You're wrong." Faith said and got up and strode out of the training room. Buffy followed after her, giving Giles a look.

…

At the Summers' house. Tara and Willow stood at the foot of the stairs looking up.

"Dawn, come on, you ready?" Willow called up to Dawn. After Dawn lied to Buffy, Buffy told Willow and Tara and had them come over to watch Dawn. They all knew about her sneakiness and wanted to keep an eye on her. Dawn appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Just about." Dawn said. "You go ahead, tell Giles to hold up. I'll be there in a sec."

"Dawn, you know we can't do that." Tara reminded her.

"I just need to find my…..watch." Dawn said thinking on the spot. "Just wait outside for me. I'll be down."

"Hurry up." Willow said. "You don't wanna miss the lowdown on our latest featured creature." Dawn watched Tara and Willow leave. Dawn smiled mischievously and went back into her room. She pulled out the spell book she got from Willow and Tara's room. Dawn walked down the stairs and into the living room. She opened a cabinet and took out a plastic bag that was hidden behind some books. She knelt by the fireplace, took a large piece of Lethe's Bramble, the forgetting herb, from the bag and put it in the fireplace.

"For Buffy, Angel, Willow, and Tara this I char." She said. She struck a match and set the flowers on fire. "Let Lethe's Bramble do its chore. Purge their minds of memories of thoughts of betrayal from recent discoveries." She reached into a small pouch on her belt, took out a clear crystal and held it in the flames. "When the fire goes out, when the crystal turns black, the spell will be cast" She pulled the crystal back. "Tabula rasa, tabula rasa, tabula rasa." She put the crystal back in her belt-pouch, got up and left.

…

"So whadda we got?" Dawn asked. Buffy, Angel, Anya, and Tara were sitting at the round table. Anya and Tara are thumb-wrestling. Buffy sat at the table, rubbing her stomach while Angel rubbed her shoulders. She told Angel what Giles told her and he wasn't pleased either. Delia sat on the stairs leading to the loft. Giles was leaning on the counter. Dawn stood nearby.

"Sorry?" Giles said to Dawn.

"What kind of oogly-boogleys? Lizardy types, or um, zombies, or, or vampires, or what?" Dawn seemed excited. Most of it was because her spell would allow her to go to the party.

"There are no oogly-boogleys, Dawn." Giles said cleaning his glasses. The door opened and Xander and Willow entered. Willow was wearing Xander's jacket.

"Thanks for the jacket." Willow thanked Xander. "It's cold out there."

"Not a problem, the cold only makes me stronger and more macho-like." Xander said. They came over to join the others. Giles stopped leaning on the counter and stood.

"I'm glad you're here, um..." He began. The others looked expectantly at him. Buffy and Angel just glared. "I have something I really have to tell you all. Um ... I know it feels like we've been through this before…"

"Why don't you just jump to the chase?" Buffy said. "Tell them that you're…" The door opened again and Spike and Faith rushed in. Spike was sizzling slightly from the sunlight. Everyone turned to look. Spike was wearing an old-fashioned brown suit with a bow-tie, and a padded hat with earflaps.

"Spike?" Giles asked confused. "Faith?"

"Holy moly." Anya said.

"You need to give me asylum." Spike said.

"I'll say." Xander said eyeing his get up.

"No need to get cute." He took off the hat and threw it down.

"It's a disguise." Faith explained. "Spikes' trying to hide form some shark head demon that wants him to pay him kittens. Which I told you to stop doing that." She told Spike.

"Hey, I'm trying to get some money flowin for our new place. Sorry if that means selling some poor, defenseless, kittens." Spike walked further into the store as the others watched in amusement. He hopped up to sit on the counter beside the cash register. Delia rolled her eyes. Angel bowed and pinched his nose. Dawn looked down, pulled the crystal from her pouch to check it. It glowed green.

"Well, now that we've recovered from Spike's ... sartorial humor," Giles said and sighed. "I'll jump to the chase." He glanced at Buffy and Faith.

"Oh great." Faith said glaring at Giles. "Is this the part where he tells us about his trip?"

"Yep." Buffy said.

"What trip?" Anya asked.

"Um ... I'm headed back to England" Giles said. Dawn and Delia looked surprised. "And I plan to stay ... indefinitely." Giles sat beside Anya. Everyone looked surprised.

"Now?" Xander said. "Not now, I mean, not after ... everything."

"Yes, now." Giles said.

"But Giles, you can't." Delia said getting. "You're a Watcher. You're _the _Watcher. Liam and I need you to help us with saving the future."

"Well, since you haven't come to me with anything new…."

"We don't have anything but we're looking." She looked to Buffy and Walked over to her. "Are you actually going to leave your unborn grandchild?" Giles was going to answer but fell unconscious. The others all fell down too. Giles and Anya slumped over together in their seats. Willow and Xander fell to the floor in a heap. Spike fell over onto some books on the counter. Faith fell, sprawled out on the floor. Buffy lumped against the table. Angel fell of his seat and landed by Delia, who fell to floor. Her face inches form Angels.

…

It was night time at the magic shop. Giles and Anya were leaning on each other. Tara was by herself in a chair. Dawn was on the floor on the lower level. Faith was by herself on the upper level. Spike was on the counter. Willow and Xander were on the floor together. Buffy had her head on the table. Angel and Delia were on the floor by Buffy. Faith stirred and woke up. She sat up and looked around

"Huh?" She said. She stood and went to a light switch and turned the light on. The others began to stir. Willow sat up, saw that she was snuggled with Xander, gave a gasp and jumped back. Xander saw her and gasped too. They stared at each other. Xander gave her a cheesy seductive grin.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey?" Willow said uncertainly. Anya woke up and yawned. Giles's head was on her shoulder. He lifted his head, saw that he drooled on her, and wiped at her shoulder with his hand. Anya looked very startled. Tara woke up and looked around in confusion. Anya turned to see who's behind her. She and Giles frowned at each other in confusion. Buffy woke up and held her back and grounded as she straightened up. Angel and Delia opened their eyes together and looked at each other. Next second, they both jumped up with a gasp.

"Who are you?" they both said together. Then they both looks of confusion. Spike, still asleep, rolled over and fell off the counter with a crashing noise. Dawn woke up shrieking at the noise. Spike got to his feet behind the counter, looking around. Dawn sat up on the floor, scoots back into a corner looking around fearfully. Faith came over to her.

"Who, who are you people? " Dawn asked in fear. Faith knelt beside Dawn. Dawn cringed back.

"Don't worry." Faith said protectively.

"Please don't hurt me!" Dawn moved away from Faith.

"Oh, it's okay. I don't know anyone here either."

"Yeah?" Dawn asked nervously. "Who are you?"

"Okay, who are you freaks?" Xander demanded. Everyone stood up, except for Buffy.

"You don't know me?" Willow asked.

"Not a clue."

"But you were just all like, 'oh, hey.'"

"Yeah, 'cause I thought you were a girl and I'd remember, but..."

"Well, I am a girl!" Willow said grabbing her breasts. "I'm ... not sure ... who I am exactly, but..."

"Okay, why was I on the ground?" Xander yelled. "And why are you all staring at me? Is this some kind of psych test? Am I getting paid for this?"

"It's not just you." Giles said. "Does anyone remember anything?" Everyone shook their heads.

"Nope." Spike said.

"Well, maybe we all got ... terribly drunk and this is some sort of, uh, blackout." Giles suggested smiling.

"I don't think I drink." Dawn said uncertainly.

"I-I don't see any booze." Anya said. "I don't feel any head bumps." She looked around. "I don't see Allen Funt."

"Who?" Giles asked.

"Okay. I'm not panicking." Xander said all panicky. "I'm not. I'm not." Everyone looked at him. "Stop looking at me like I'm panicking!"

"Hey, hey, take it easy, guy." Buffy said. "The only who should be panicky is me because I don't know who I am and I'm apparently pregnant." She looked down at her swollen stomach and rubbed it.

"Okay, no one's hurt, right?" Faith asked. "And, and none of us look all hatchety-murdery, so ... we're probably safe. Here. Wherever here is."

"Look at this stuff on these shelves." Willow said looking around. "Weird jars of weird stuff." She went over to the counter and looked at the jars behind Spike. "Weird books with weird covers, like Magic for Beginners." She said picking up a book. Then she got a revelation. "Oh!"

"This is a magic shop." Tara said getting it. "A-a-a real magic shop."

"Well, maybe that's it." Buffy said. "Maybe something magic happened…"

"Magic!" Giles scoffed. "Magic's all balderdash and chicanery. I'm afraid we don't know a bloody thing." Everyone looked at him. "Except I seem to be British, don't I? Uh, and a man. With ... glasses." He removed his glasses. "Well, that narrows it down considerably."

"Not by much." Delia said.

"I don't like this." Dawn said tearfully.

"It's okay, don't worry." Buffy said. "We'll take care of each other."

"Really?"

"Of course." Dawn smiled and moved to sit next to Buffy who also smiled. She brushed some hair back from Dawn's face.

"We'll all get our memory back, and it'll all be right as rain." Giles said.

"Oh, listen to Mary Poppins." Spike said. "He's got his crust all stiff and upper with that nancy-boy accent." Everyone looked at Spike this time. "You Englishmen are always so... Bloody hell! Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks, oh God! I'm English!"

"Welcome to the nancy tribe." Giles said putting his glasses back on.

"You don't suppose you and I ... we're not related, are we?"

"There is a ruggedly handsome resemblance." Anya said. Giles smiled at Anya with pleasure.

"And you do inspire a, um ..." Giles said to Spike. "Particular feeling of ... familiarity and ... disappointment." Spike walked out from behind the counter and walked up to Giles, scowling. They looked at each other. "Older brother?" Giles suggested.

"Father." Spike scoffed. Giles looked outraged. "Oh, god, how I must hate you."

"What did I do?" Giles asked looking offended.

"There's always something, and what's with the trollop?" He indicated to Anya.

"Hey!" Anya said.

"I saw you! Sleeping together."

"Resting together." Giles corrected.

"Look!" Anya said holding up her hand with the engagement ring. "It's okay. We're engaged."

"Oh." Giles smiled.

"Oh, great, a tarty stepmom who's half old Daddy's age." Spike said.

"Tarty?" Anya asked.

"Old?" Giles asked. "You little twerp, I'm young enough to still get carded."

"Carded!" Willow said. "Driver's licenses!"

"Right." Angel said. "We all must have some sort of I.D." Everyone reached into their pockets and bags to dig out I.D's.

"It's me!" Xander said looking into his wallet. "'Alexander Harris.' Cute picture. Hey, I exist."

"I'm Willow Rosenberg." Willow said. "Heh, Willow. Funny name."

"I think it's pretty." Tara said smiling. Willow smiled back.

"Whadda you got?"

"Tara," Tara said holding up her I.D. "and look, I'm a student at U.C. Sunnydale."

"Me too! Hey, maybe we're study buddies."

"Well I got nothing'." Delia said. "No I.D. of any kind."

"Me neither." Angel said. "How come he's got an I.D. and I don't?" Angel asked gesturing to Xander.

"Maybe you forgot it or something." Faith suggested. "But I got a name." She held her driver's licenses. "Faith Lehane."

"I don't have a wallet." Dawn said to Buffy.

"Don't worry." Buffy said. "Me neither. But here, look." Buffy reached to Dawn's neck. Dawn was wearing a necklace with her name on it. Buffy held it in her fingers. "You're Dawn."

"Or, Umad." Dawn said smiling.

"I'm, uh, called Rupert Giles." Giles said.

"Rupert." Anya said smiling fondly.

"Rupert!" Spike giggled.

"You're not too old to put across my knee, you know ... sonny." Giles said. Spike still laughed. "Anyway, what did I call you?"

"Um..." Spike examined his clothing. He found a label on the inside of his suit jacket. "'Made with care for Randy.'" He looked at Giles angrily. "Randy Giles? Why not just call me 'Horny Giles,' or 'Desperate for a Shag Giles'? I knew there was a reason I hated you!"

"Randy's ... a family name, undoubtedly." Anya fingered with something around her neck. She went behind the counter.

"Oh, hey, I have a name on my jacket." Willow said taking the jacket off to look. "Harris."

"Harris?" Xander said. "That's my last name. Maybe I have a brother and you go out with him." Willow looked uncertain. "Or maybe you go out with me."

"Well, we did wake up all snuggly-wuggly." Willow walked closer to him. "Maybe you're my boyfriend."

"Either that, or I got one pissed-off brother out there somewhere." Both of them smiled.

"I'm Anya!" Anya said but mispronounced her name. Everyone looked over at Anya by the cash register. "Um, this key fits this lock. And, uh, the forms ... next to the cash register say that, uh, Rupert and, and Anya own the shop together."

"This is 'our' magic shop?" Giles asked went over to Anya. "Uh, well, that's very, uh, uh, progressive of me."

"Hey look." Delia said looking at her hand with the Claddagh ring on it. Everyone turned to her. "I have some sorta ring. It's on my left ring finger. Does that mean I'm married?"

"Wait, I have one too." Angel looking at his hand.

"And me." Buffy said.

"Does that mean we're all married to one another?" Delia asked. "Or am I married to him?" She pointed to Angel. "Now that I think about it, there is a bit of an attraction that face." Delia smiled.

"I think I might be married to him." Buffy said. "I am the pregnant one." She indicated to her swollen stomach.

"I do feel a sort of protectiveness for it." Angel said. "Maybe I am married to her."

"Or maybe you're both married to him." Faith suggested looking at Angel with a slight grin. "He does seem like the kinda guy who wouldn't settle with just one woman."

"But we can't really tell without knowing are true names." Delia said. "We might have had a double wedding that was alike."

"Maybe." Angel agreed. "Maybe I'm married to you and that could be like family members baby."

"So you don't have a name?" Dawn said to Buffy.

"Of course I do." Buffy said. "I just don't happen to know it."

"You want me to name you?" Dawn asked smiling.

"Oh, that's sweet, but I think I can name myself." Buffy thought for a minute. "I'll name me ... Joan."

"Ugh!" Dawn made a face.

"What? Did you just 'ugh' my name?"

"No! I just ... I mean, it's so blah. Joan?"

"I like it. I feel like a Joan."

"Fine, that's your purgative." Dawn chuckled.

"Prerogative." Buffy corrected.

"Whatever, Joan."

"Whatever, Umad."

"Boy, you're a pain in the/Boy, you're bossy!" they both said at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise.

"Do you think we're…" Dawn began.

"Sisters?" Buffy finished. They smiled and hugged each other.

"You never showed me affection like that!" Spike said to Giles. Giles looked confused. "...I'd wager."

"Well they have their names." Delia said. "But we don't." She said to Angel.

"Maybe we can name ourselves." Angel offered and thought. "I think I'll name myself…David. I fell like a David."

"I like it. That just leaves me. I wanna be…..Nancy. Nancy Drew." Everyone stared at her. "Considering the situation, we definitely need a Nancy Drew."

"Wasn't Nancy Drew blonde?" Buffy asked. Delia rolled her eyes

"It's nice." Angel said coming to her side and smiling at her. She smiled back.

"Hey. I thought you were my husband." Buffy said. Angel looked uncomfortable.

"Uh…." He said. "I'll be really glad once we figure out who I'm married too."

"Well first," Faith said taking charge. "We need to figure out what's going on. We need to get help."

"Looks like Faith fancies herself the boss." Spike said.

"We have a kid here-"

"A teenager." Dawn corrected her.

"A teenager. A pregnant woman, and we have no idea what's wrong with us. I think a hospital's our best bet."

"Uh, yes, let's, um, let's head out." Giles said. They all started walking toward the door. Xander offered Willow his arm, and after a moment she took it. Angel helped Buffy up, who gave him a smile. He smiled back.

"Any suggestions on how we're gonna get there?" Faith asked.

"Dad can drive." Spike said. "He's bound to have some classic midlife-crisis transport." He put an arm around Giles's shoulder. "Something red, shiny, shaped like a penis." They all get to the front door. Faith opened it. The shark demon's two vampire minions stood there, snarling. Everyone screamed. Faith closed the door and they all huddled on the floor under the window. Buffy had to sit.

"Did you guys see that?" Buffy said.

"Vampires!" Spike cried.

"Maybe it's Halloween." Tara suggested.

"It doesn't feel like Halloween." Dawn moaned.

"Even if it is, those guys are definitely not kids, and those are definitely not costumes." Xander said. "Randy's right. Looks like we have vampires."

"Slayer!" one of the vampires said, banging on the door.

"They're definitely not knocking for candy."

"Okay, doors, we need to check to see if there's other doors, a-and make sure they're locked and put large objects in front of them. Come on." Willow said. She and Xander went off toward the back.

"Monsters are real." Faith said. "Did we know this?"

"This does seem a bit familiar." Delia said. "But I think we huddled on the floor like this."

"We n-need our memories back." Tara said. "We have to get to a hospital."

"As, uh, proprietor of a magic shop," Giles said. "I propose we fight them. We can use things here in the shop, you know, magic ... tricks or whatever." The vampires continue banging.

"Send out Spike!" the other vamp said.

"They seem to want spikes." Giles deduced.

"Oh!" Spike said and got up. He came back with a handful of stakes. "Let's give 'em these." They all picked up stakes and examined them.

"But wait, what are they going to do with them?" Dawn asked.

"Slayer, come out and play!" a vamp said.

"'Slay her,' that's just what they said before." Tara said and then looked horrified. "Th-th-they're gonna use the spikes to-"

"To slay someone?" Delia said. "A female someone!" Giles looked horrified. "Who do those jerks think they are?"

"Bloodsuckers." Anya said. "They kill by sucking blood. Take it easy,… .

"You guys!" Willow said. She and Xander returned into the main room.

"Trap door in the basement, it seems to lead to the sewer." Xander said.

"Let's go!" Anya said. They all got up, huddled in a mass together, and started rushing toward the back. The vampires peered in the windows. Suddenly the front window bust in and one of the vampires appeared. All the Scoobies screamed and ran for the back. The back door burst open revealing the other vampire. They all screamed more and backed away. Xander dropped to his knees, clasped his hands and looked upward.

"Now I'm not sure what I am so bear with me here." Xander said. "Now I lay me down to sleep, uh, shabat Israel, uh, om, om." One vamp grabbed Buffy and let out a shriek. Angel came over and bashed in the vamps face, sending him flying across the room. Angel stared in amazement at what he did.

"Thanks." Buffy said to Angel.

"He was going to hurt you." Angel said. "I didn't want that to happen." He smiled and so did Buffy. The vampire got up and tried to run back at them. Delia was in his pathway. Instantly, she kicked him right in the chin and elbowed him in the face. He fell towards Buffy and Buffy punched the vamp several times, sending him across the room again. Both Buffy and Delia stared in amazement at what they had done. The second vamp went past Xander and grabbed Spike, slamming him up against a bookcase. Spike looked scared.

"You owe us!" the vamp said.

"Fine! Take your damn spikes!" Spike said and pulled the stakes from his jacket. He tossed them at the vamp. They clattered to the floor. Spike tried to go past but the vampire stopped him.

"Don't be stupid. I said you owe us."

"Who, me?"

"You've got the boss's kittens."

"Kittens?!"

A vamp grabbed Faith from behind. They struggled with each other. Faith broke free, kneed the other vamp in the groin and punched him. The other Scoobies watched in amazement. Faith saw the vamp that held Spike up against the bookcase and ran over, pulling him away.

"Hey! Stay away from Randy!" Faith said. She stakes the vampire and he tuned to dust. The Scoobies and Faith watched in complete wide-eyed amazement.

"Whoa!" Dawn said in amazement.

"What did you guys just do?" Willow asked.

"Uh ... I..." Faith said. The other vamp slid past and made for the door as Faith turned to face the Scoobies, holding the stake, still looking amazed. "I don't know." A slow smile appeared. "But it was COOL!" The others slowly begin to smile too.

"The boss ain't gonna like this!" The vamp said. "I'll be back. And I won't be alone!" The vamp fled out the front door. Spike shut and locked it behind him, then dropped the metal security grate down over the broken window.

"I think I know why I'm the boss. I'm like a superhero or something! And Nancy and Joan and David must be superheroes as well" The others stared at her. Xander slumped to the floor in a faint.

…

At the Summer's house, the front door opened and a dark figure entered. The figure looked around and went into the living room. A burned bag of the Lethe's Bramble Dawn used for the spell. The figure bent down and a little bit of the herbs in his fingers and rugged them together. The figure stood up and left the house.

…

"Okay. I've got a plan." Faith said.

"I'm all ears." Xander said.

"They seem to want Randy. And I seem to be pretty strong. Wicked strong. And so does David, Joan, and …... So, you guys go through the sewers to get to the hospital. David, Nancy, Randy, and I'll give the monsters a run for their money."

"That's your plan?" Spike asked

"Yes."

"Right."

"I'm not leaving the shop." Anya said. "I have to protect the cash register, and ... do some spells."

"Oh. Well, magic might help, yes, it's worth a shot." Giles said.

"All right." Faith said. "You work on that then. The rest of you, go through the sewers and take Joan with you. We need to go. Ready, Randy? David? Nancy?"

"Ready." They all said together. Spike stepped forward.

"Um, son." Giles said. Spike stopped and turned to him. "Come here. Um, please."

"Um..." Spike said.

"Yes, um..." Spike went over to Giles and they hugged awkwardly, then Spike pushed Giles away.

"Right."

"Good, then." Faith, Spike, Angel, and Delia went out the front. Buffy, Willow, Xander, Tara, and Dawn went towards the back. Giles and Anya stayed where they were.

…

In the sewers, Xander and Tara stood at the bottom helping Dawn climb down the ladder.

"Almost there, come on." Xander said. "There we go." Dawn reached the bottom with their assistance.

"Thanks." Dawn said. Xander and Tara helped Willow climb down next. She reached the bottom with her hands on Tara's shoulders. They looked at each other for a moment, then separated. Xander and Tara helped Buffy down next. Alter a few minutes of fumbling, and getting help form everyone else, Buffy was on the ground with them.

"You ok?" Xander asked Buffy.

"Fine." Buffy replied taking n a few deep breathes. "Just tired."

"We should go." Tara said. They all began walking slowly through the sewer. Dawn began to sing to herself but yelped as a vampire appeared in front of them. They all screamed. They turned and ran back the way they came. The vampire pursued them. The five Scoobies were running. Buffy was being helped by Xander and Willow. Tara was in the lead. She looked to her left, saw a space behind some pillars, and ran over to hide there. The others followed. The vampire ran past, not seeing them. Tara peeked out.

"Come on." She said. "This way. Up the ladder." They ran to a ladder and climbed up to an elevated tunnel leading to a large pipe. A metal grate blocked the entrance. They moved it aside, climbing through. Xander closed the grate behind him while the others huddled around the corner in the pipe.

"He's coming!" Xander whispered. They all huddled quietly as the vampire went past again, growling. After a bit, Xander and Tara peered out at the sewer tunnel. Checking for the vampire. Willow sat opposite Dawn. Buffy sat in between them

"How you doin', guys?" Willow asked.

"Uh, I'm okay." Dawn said. "It's scary ... but, weirdly? Kind of familiar."

"I'm feeling really scared." Buffy said. "But not for me. For the baby. I don't want it to get hurt."

"We'll get out of this, Joan." Willow said.

"How are you?" Buffy asked.

"A little confused. I mean, I'm ... all sweaty ... and trapped, no memory, hiding in a pipe from a vampire..." She paused, looked over at the others, then back at Buffy and Dawn, still frowning. "And I think I'm kinda gay." Dawn and Buffy looked surprised. Xander peeked out through the grate as the vampire began to climb toward it.

"I smell fear ... and it smells good." The vampire said. Xander, Tara, Buffy, Willow, and Dawn began fleeing through the pipe. The vampire went to the closed grate, peered in to the pipe, and retreated back into the sewer.

Xander emerged into the sewer from another hole in the pipe. He peeked around a corner and the vampire punched him. Xander grabbed the vamp, who pushed him away. Xander punched the vamp a couple of times, then the vamp blocked a punch and threw Xander to the ground.

"Hey buddy." The vamp heard a voice say form behind him. He turned and there stood Liam smiling at him. Liam punched the vamp, sending him flying away. Liam bent down and helped Xander up. "You ok?"

"Yeah, thanks David." Xander said.

"David?" Tara, Willow, Buffy and Dawn looked out of the pipe. Tara and Willow jumped down to the ground and looked around. The vampire got to his feet and snarled at Liam. Liam looked to him. "I'm gonna enjoy this. Protect the girls and don't go anywhere." He ordered Xander.

"You some sorta superhero too?" Xander asked. Liam gave Xander a look, then turned to towards the vamp. They both charged at each other. Liam rammed the vampire at full force and slammed him into the wall. The vamp slumped to the floor. "This is just too easy." Liam said he picked up a piece of wood a dusted the vamp. The others walked out form there hiding places and looked at Liam. Liam turned to look at them. "You guys ok?" they all nodded their heads.

"Thank you." Buffy said coming over and hugging him. "You were so brave."

"I get that from my parents." Liam said. Buffy looked at Liam.

"Thank you." She said again and leaned in to kiss Liam. Liam placed his hand in front of her mouth to top the kiss. Buffy looked confused and pulled away.

"Sorry, but you're not my wife." Liam said looking a bit shocked.

"Oh." Buffy said. "Does that mean you got your memories back?"

"I never lost them. But I might know how you lost yours."

"How?" Dawn asked.

"Well." Liam said as he pulled away from Buffy. "Does any have some sorta crystal on them?" Everyone checked their persons for a crystal.

"Hey." Dawn said taking the pouch off of her belt and taking the crystal out. "I have one."

"Can I see it?" Liam held out his hand. Dawn gave him the crystal. Lim placed the crystal on the ground and stomped on it. It gave off a green light as it smashed. Everyone looked dizzy for a moment. They all got their composure and looked at each other. Then they looked at Dawn. Dawn looked guilty. Buffy gave her an angry look.

"You and I are gonna have a talk." Buffy said sternly.

"How about I do that." Liam suggested. "After everything that's happened, I think all of you are entitled to a break."

"And a break we shall receive." Xander said.

"Ok, Xander take the rest and head back to the magic shop and then everyone go home." They all nodded to him and turned to walk down the passage. Dawn included. "Dawn." Liam called back to her. She stopped and turned nervously to him. Buffy looked back too. "You and I are gonna stay out just a bit." Dawn nodded and went over to Liam. Liam looked to his mother and gave her a nod. She nodded back and left with the rest. Liam looked to Dawn who still looked rather guilty.

…

Angel, Faith, Spike, and Delia were fighting vampires. The girls found out that the guys were vampires and tried to kill them, until they found out they were on their side. Spike held a vamp by the arms as Angel kicked him, then punched him and he fell to the ground. Faith was battling her own vamp and winning. Delia holding her own. She kicked her vamp and he went down.

"Don't mess with Nancy Drew the v…" She began but then paused, standing still as her memories returned. Suddenly she was punched I the face and she went down to the ground. A vampire stood over her. He kicked her in the stomach, twice. She gasped in pain. Suddenly he vamp turned to dust as Angel stood behind where he used to be holding a stake.

"Delia, are you ok?" Angel asked bending down and helping her up. Delia held her stomach and looked sad. Every one of her memories of her and Liam fighting came back to her. It was as if she relieved the entire thing. The shark-headed demon walked up behind him.

"You're an odd duck, Mister Spike." The demon said. Spike turned to look at him. "Fighting your own kind ... palling around with a Slayer. And whoa, that suit! Chutzpah must be your middle name. Uh, hey, look, um ... about our little debt problem, it's okay, I don't need the kittens." Spike grabbed the demon by the front of his suit, pulling him close.

"You'll get paid." Spike said. "I'm no welsher."

"Right, sure." Spike let him go. "You're good for it, I know that. I'm just going to, uh ... yeah." He cleared his throat and walked away quickly. Spike sighed and went over next to Faith.

"You ok." He asked. Faith nodded.

"Guys. "Angel said holding Delia. "I'm gonna take Delia home and find Buffy."

"Sure." Faith said. "I guess we'll go home too." They walked in opposite directions towards their respective homes.

…

Liam and Dawn were walking down a dark rode. Liam had his hands in his pockets. Dawn held herself and was looking down.

"Are you gonna say anything?" Dawn asked. "We've been walking in silent for the past twenty minutes."

"I know." Liam said. "So tell me, what made you cast the spell?"

"I…uh….I came home with a failed test and told Buffy I passed." Dawn started to explain.

"Why?"

"Because she said if I didn't pass, then I wouldn't go to this party."

"Anything particular special about this party?"

"A…uh…a guy that I heard liked me." Lam laughed at her explanation. "What?"

"It's always about some guy." Liam said. "Excuse for everything a girl does wrong. So what? Did mom find out?"

"She found out I lied to her."

"And she grounded you."

"Yeah."

"And you casted a forgetting spell so that she wouldn't remember that she found out."

"Pretty much."

"And it looks like it backfired on ya."

"Looks like it." Liam nodded his head. "So I guess that you're angry and disappointed with me as well."

"Nope." Liam simply said, Dawn looked at him confused.

"You're not?"

"Nah. I've stupider things than what you did."

"You did?" Liam stopped and sighed. He looked to Dawn who stopped too.

"Dawn…..I never…did anything bad before I was sixteen. But when I turned sixteen, my dad died in front of me. I spent the next month or so, being angry. After I found out that you and the rest of the gang couldn't find his killer, I delved into a lot of bad habits. I spent the next year, drinking, dealing, smoking and whoring. I got into so much trouble with the police back home." Dawn stood staring at her nephew who was telling her that he did worst things then she did. "I never let up. Even when Uncle Spike and Aunt Faith yelled at me to stop. I never did. Kathy, my sister, joined the fight not so long after dad died. I didn't. She got her life in control. My life was being wasted, and I didn't care. It wasn't until I met Delia that I changed and started making something of my life. Parents are hard on their children when they make stupid choices because the parents made stupid choices when they were their age. They don't want their children to make the same mistakes they did. If mom told you to do something, she's got a very good reason for doing so. And lying to her, after spending all this time with her, breaks the trust that is between you two. And when that's gone, it's very hard to get back. Trust is everything in a relationship. I should know. All Buffy wants for you is for you to grow up and be something. And spending your time lying and sneaking around is betraying that trust." Dawn looked even more guilty than before.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"It's ok." Liam hugged Dawn. Dawn started crying.

"I nearly got them all killed." She cried.

"It's ok. Everyone is safe now." Liam held Dawn as she cried over her actions. She felt so terrible that she betrayed Buffy's trust by lying to her and then doing magic to wipe her memory.

"I wish I had never done it."

"I wish I never did what I did either." Liam pulled away and held Dawn's shoulders. "But we can't change the past." Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Ok, maybe you can. For right now, what's done is done. And now it's time to face up to what you've done."

"That will go well." Dawn deadpanned.

"Don't worry." Liam brushed some hair from Dawn's face and behind her ear. "I'll tell mom that I gave you the riot act and all she'll do is determine how long you're grounded for. And believe me, you got it better than I did."

"How?"

"Buffy's still around to care and love you." Liam smiled. Dawn smiled too.

…

"Where could they be?" Buffy asked. She, Angel, Willow, Tara, Delia, and Giles were all sitting around the dining room table waiting for Liam and Dawn. "They've been gone for a long time."

"Buffy, it's only been half an hour." Giles pointed out. "I'm sure that Liam and Dawn are perfectly fine."

"Yeah, I mean, Liam did save us all." Willow said. "He can take care of Dawn."

"What I'm worried about is how lightly he'll yell at her for what she did." Buffy said. "How can my own sister, after everything we've been through, lie to me and then try to wipe my memory so that she can go to some party?"

"She probably did it to be with friends and not be in trouble." Tara said.

"If you start taking her side, I will hurt you." Buffy warned. Tara shifted in her chair.

"Buffy." Angel said holding her hand. "I think Liam will be fair on Dawn."

"I'm not so sure." The door opened and everyone turned to see Liam and Dawn walk in.

"Ok, so this is your punishment." Liam said closing the door. "No TV, no phone privileges, no emails, no talking to friends unless it is face to face and at school. And that is the only place you go to when you're not at home. Three weeks. Am I understood?" He crossed his arms and glared at Dawn.

"Yes." Dawn said weakly, not liking the punishment but felt it was fair.

"Good. Now, what do you have to say to them?" He gestured to the gang. Dawn looked at them and saw there disappointed faces.

"I'm sorry about everything." Dawn said looking down. "I was being selfish and not taking responsibility for my actions. I hope that I can regain everyone's trust soon."

"Very good Dawn." Liam said nodding. "Now go up to your room and go to bed."

"Yes sir." Dawn said sadly. Liam was disappointed in her too. She knew it. But she felt like she deserved it. She walked up the stairs and into her room. Liam looked to the rest of the gang. Delia didn't make eye contact with him

"What did you say to her?" Angel asked, little surprised by how Dawn apologized to them all.

"A little fire burns a great field of corn." Liam said smiling.

"Hunh?" Buffy asked.

"Dawn's mistakes can lead to serious consequences." Giles clarified.

"I thought that after everything, I could save mom form giving Dawn the riot act." Liam said. "She understands what she did was wrong and she regrets it."

"Thank you." Buffy said. "I really needed a break."

"I think it's time for us to go." Angel said.

"And I need to go and check my belongings before boarding my flight." Giles said getting up.

"You leavin'?" Liam asked. Giles looked at him. Buffy glared at Giles.

"Uh…Yes. I am going back to England indefinitely."

"Oh." Liam looked down disappointed. Giles sighed. He didn't like making others feel bad. Liam looked back up at his grandfather. "You will be around for Connor's birth and his birthdays and weddings and some apocalypse's right?"

"Uh…yes. Of course."

"Then bring me back something from England." Liam said smiling and hugging his grandfather.

"You're not disappointed?" Giles asked confused.

"A little." Liam pulled away. "But it's your life. I can't control it."

"Oh. Well, I guess then we can leave it at that."

"I guess we can." Giles moved past Liam to the door. He stopped and turned to rest.

"Good bye." Giles said.

"Don't say good bye unless you plan on not seeing these people again." Liam said. Giles misled and left the house. Everyone else stayed where they were for a minute.

"We should all get to bed." Angel said. Everyone nodded in agreement. Angel and Buffy left the house to back to the mansion. Willow and Tara left for their room upstairs. That left Liam and Delia. Delia hadn't made eye contact with Liam since he got home.

"So I guess we should…" Liam didn't finish as Delia got up and hurried passed him upstairs. Liam sighed. "This is going to be tough." He tuned and followed Delia upstairs.

…

Delia opened and closed the bedroom door and took off her shoes, fighting back tears. She didn't want to deal with Liam. Liam opened and closed the door as he entered.

"Del, we need to talk." Liam said.

"Before you say anything." Delia said looking at him. He could tall that she was trying hard not to cry. "Before you say anything…..Let me tell you, that when I got my memories back, I got back our fight and I felt like I relived it." Her eyes were watering. "I am really emotional right now. I am really angry. And I am really mad. So before you try and explain yourself to me, I want you to know that…."

"I'm a jerk." Liam interrupted her. Delia stopped talking and stared at him. "I'm a real jerk. I'm a jackass, a dumbass…..basically any and all forms of an ass." Delia just stared at Liam. "I was never angry with you Del. I knew that you would hesitate. I knew that when I gave you the tea, you would hesitate the first time. Because you love so much. And it's that type of love that makes me love you. I was angry at me because I hurt you. I did the most despicable act of my being. I hurt you when I promised myself when I first fell in love with you, that I wouldn't. I never wanted to do it and knowing that I did makes me…." Delia placed two fingers on his mouth, quieting him. A few tears fell down her face.

"Just shut up and kiss me." She said. She removed her fingers and the both of them captured their lips, aggressively kissing each other. Liam moved Delia so that she was pushed up against the wall. They continued to kiss aggressively. They stopped and they both pulled their shirts off before resuming the aggressive kiss. Then Liam came to his senses and pulled away. Delia protested by trying to recapture his lips, but Liam pushed her back and held her arms up against the wall. He stared at his wife. She was now crying, fearing the worst. She feared that maybe Liam didn't love her enough anymore. But Liam love her more than ever. He just didn't want to hurt her in anyway. He let go of Delia's arms and cupped her face, whipping her tears away. He leaned in and placed a gentle, but sweet and passionate kiss. She responded the same way. Liam wrapped his arms around her naked torso as she wrapped hers around his neck. Liam held her close to his chest. She pulled her legs up and wrapped them around his waist. Liam moved her away from the wall and went to the bed. He placed her gently on the bed and broke the kiss for air. They shed off what loos articles of clothing they had left. Liam laid on top of Delia and continued with the sweet and passionate kiss ha gave her before. She responded the same. Liam didn't want to hurt her. He wanted to love her forever. And so did she.

…

Liam and Delia were sleeping in their bed and it was morning. Delia's head was resting on Liam's arms while his other one was around her. Her hand was entwined with that one. They both were resting peacefully. Liam opened his eyes and looked at the sleeping form of his wife. He leaned in and placed a kiss on her hair. He continued kissing her hair. Then started kissing her bare shoulder.

"Mmm. Morning." Delia said not opening her eyes.

"Morning." Liam said and continued kissing her back.

"Is it possible for us to stay in bed all day? Like you promised we would one day."

"Consider this our vacation day." He placed another kiss on her shoulder. "Nancy Drew." Delia's eyes shot open and she turned over to face her husband.

"How did you know about that?"

"Dawn told me." Liam said snickering.

"I just thought of it." Delia said defending herself. "We were without names and I needed and I didn't have an I.D…." she was cut off as Liam captured her lips.

"I think it's cute." He said parting.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You and she are kinda alike. Except for being blonde." Delia rolled her eyes.

"And we get back to being blonde."

"Hey, I would love you even if you were bald."

"Really?" Delia asked. "Believe it or not, that actually sounds kinda weird."

"So are vampires marrying slayers, people coming from the future, vampire births. We live weird lives, Del."

"I guess so. But I still fin it weir…." Liam smiled and kissed her again. She kissed back smiling. They had completely forgotten about their fight and they don't believe that they would have another one soon.

**And that's the story. I know that some of you are anxious for Connors birth. The birth arc is next. I promise. You may have to wait just a bit longer for the actual birth, but it will happen soon. Stay tune. Comment and Review.**


	12. OffspringQuickening

Chapter 12: Offspring/Quickening

**Connor's birth story arc begins here. I combined two episodes into one because just doing each chapter an episode would leave them too short. So here's the episode. Enjoy. **

Cordy was arranging some flowers in a vase down in the basement of the Hyperion. Delia walked into the training area and saw that there were several vases of them scattered around the room.

"What's this?" Delia asked curiously at the new decorations

"Oh, it's just so dark and lifeless down here, I thought I'd brighten it up a little for Angel." Cordy said. Delia picked up one of the vases. "He can't exactly go out and enjoy the sunny fields of nature, but that doesn't mean we can't bring a little bloom into his darkness."

"They're fake." Delia told her.

"Yeah. You put something real in this hellhole and it dies like that." She snapped her fingers. Delia put the flowers down and looked at Cordy.

"I think it's a great idea Cordelia. Angel will love it."

"Yeah, especially since he has Buffy and Connor on the way. By the way, when is he coming? I really wanna start playing with him."

"He'll be here soon." Delia chuckled. "We just have to be patient."

"Yeah well, I've been patient long enough. Can we do it?" Cordy took a fighting stance. "Hi-yeah!"

"Okay. Last time we were working on not pulling your punches and your kicks. Right? Don't worry about me." Cordy hit her and Delia deflected the punch with her arm. "That's good." Cordy swiped at her again. "Good! Where is your weight?" Delia looked down. "Balls of your feet?" Cordy swung and hit Delia across the face full force.

"Oops! Oh god, you said that..." Delia straightened back up, smiling. "Are you okay?"

"I'm a slayer. You can't hurt me. Good." Delia turned away from her, made a face, and mouthed _Ow_, while gingerly feeling her nose.

"You're off your game. It's because of the prophecy Liam, Wes, and Gunn are trying to get their hands on. You think that you and Liam won't succeed. You think that your future will stay the same." Delia turned back to face her.

"Liam and I will succeed. Someone is always uncovering some ancient scroll, and they're always saying the same thing: that something terrible is coming. Do you know how many of these things I've seen in the future?"

"Four?"

"Five. But there's nothing to worry about."

"Then why are the boy's breaking and entering right now?"

"Breaking and entering is such a negative term. They are simply retrieving some missing pieces from the Nyazian Scroll. Just to make sure..."

"That the end is coming. - Well, all we can do is live each moment to the fullest and be grateful that we didn't throw too much money at the NASDAQ." Delia blinked her eyes and lifted a hand towards her face.

"Am I swelling?"

…

Wes, dressed in black, snuck up on a window of a house and looked into the window from outside. Wes motions and Gunn and Liam walked up beside him.

"Step one: Dobermans are happily gnawing on the steak." Wes said. "Alarm and vid lines are disabled" He pulled out a scanner and looked at its display. "no infrared. Caught a break there. Step two: we cut a hole in the glass, snake in the mini-cam and scan the interior." Gunn walked over to look in the glass door while Wes pulled glasscutter with a suction cup out of his duffel bag and attached it to the window. "If it's all clear, we disable the locks and bolts on the side door thus completing..." Gunn tried the door and it swung open. "...step three." Liam patted Wes on the shoulder.

"Not everything that's complicated Wes." Liam told him. Wes nodded and closed up his duffel and moved over to follow Gunn and Liam inside, then hurried back to detach the suction cup from the window and stow it in his bag while others waited for him inside. Wes hurried in and motioned for Gunn to close the patio door. They opened the doors into an adjacent room, in which all sorts of things are on display. Gunn looked around and whistled.

"Can you believe this?" Gunn asked astounded.

"I can." Liam said. "Because I've seen better."

"When?"

"About twenty-seven years from now."

"Oh." Gunn looked around. "But seriously. Some guys collect old cars, some guys collect..." Gunn flinched back as he spotted a misshapen, one-eyed demon head in a glass case. Then he, Wes, Liam leaned in for a closer look. "It's like - the eye follows you wherever you go."

"How about we get back to looking for that scroll." Liam suggested. Wes walked over to a bottle sitting on a pedestal, pulled out the stopper and took a sniff before closing it again.

"Alright. If you were the priceless remnants of the lost Nyazian Scroll, where would you be?" Wes asked himself.

"If I was priceless - I'd be in the vault." Gunn said.

"The vault?" Wes asked sounding surprised. "Your snitch never said anything about a vault!"

"I got a bad feeling about this." Gunn said looking past Wes. Liam looked too.

"Why?" Liam asked. "Because of the man standing behind Wes with the large revolver." Wes turned to see a guy standing in the door aiming a gun at them.

"Move and I'll kill you." The man said, edging into the room and reaching for the telephone with one hand while still aiming the gun at them with the other.

"I hope you're calling the police." Wes said.

"You bet I am."

"Good. You can explain to them why you keep so much GHB on hand." Wes walked over to the bottle on the pedestal. "You know, Rohypnol, the date rape drug."

"What?" the man asked sounding confused. Wes indicated to the bottle.

"Muslok Trancing Amalgam. Under the microscope it's virtually indistinguishable from GHB." The man slowly put the receiver back down.

"Alright. I won't call the police."

"I'm glad we understand each other."

"Until after I kill you."

"Oh." Wes said. His plan apparently didn't succeed. Gunn picked up four red glass balls out of a bowl on another stand.

"Hey, these worth a lot?" Gunn asked looking at the balls.

"Yes." The man replied. "They're Cyopian conjuring spheres."

"How much? Four figures each? Five?" Gunn started to juggle two of the balls with one hand. "More?"

"Stop that!" the man ordered.

"Put the weapon down." When the man hesitated, Gunn let one of the balls drop and it shattered with a liquid splash as it hits the floor.

"Kind of delicate." Liam said smiling. Gunn kept juggling the remaining three with both hands. "Look, we're not thieves, we're investigators. Now, we need to look at your Nyazian Scrolls. Put the weapon down, because – my friend looks like he's getting kind of tired over here."

"Alright!" Man put the revolver down on a glass case and Wes retrieved it. Gunn dropped another ball, the owner let out a fearful gasp, only for the ball to bounce off of Gunn's foot and caught it again.

"Nice." Liam commented.

"I always wanna give them a big finish." Gunn said.

…

Gunn was throwing darts at a board in the office at the Hyperion. Wes was sitting at the desk, writing. Fred was sitting beside him, working on the laptop. Cordy was at her own desk.

"So, how are you doing there, Fred?" Gunn asked.

"Oh, it's a simple equation, really." Fred said. "The ancient Roman calendar has fourteen hundred and sixty-four days in a four-year cycle. The Etruscan, Sumerian, and Druidian each have their own cycles. You work forward from the presumed day of the prophecy under each calendar, factoring in our own three hundred and sixty-five day calendar and accounting for a three day discrepancy for every four years and...Oh. - That can't be right. - Unless the world ended last March."

"So, are we talking Armageddon - or bad house number?" Gunn said sitting down in the chair in front of Wes' desk. "Is it a bad event - or a bad guy?"

"It's not clear on that." Wes explained. "It predicts the arrival or arising of the Tro-clan, the person or being that brings about the ruination of mankind."

"So it's a two for one. Isn't that nice." Gunn deadpanned.

"And I'm not sure on the translation. Ruination may in fact mean purification."

"Purification? So this Tro-clan is a good thing?"

"I doubt that. But it's purification in Aramaic, ruination in ancient Greek and in the lost Ga-shundi language it means both."

"And you don't want to make the same mistake twice." Cordy said looking up from her desk at Wes, who looked down at his papers.

"No." Wes said.

"What mistake?" Fred asked curiously.

"There was another prophecy a while back. It seemed to be about Angel and contained the word 'Shanshu' which I thought meant to die and I - sort of told Angel..."

"...that we was going to die." Cordy finished quickly.

"Oh, no." Fred said being all worried.

"Then I found out it also meant to live." Wes explained further. "It meant to die and to live."

"So - which is it?"

"Both. In his case it meant that someday the vampire in him might die, but the human in him might live."

"That he would be like a normal man?"

"Yes."

"Wow. What would we do if that happened?"

"I'd buy him some plaid shirts and take him to the beach." Cordy said. "The boy needs some color."

"The only other color you'll see him in is burnt red." Liam said coming into the office with Delia behind him. "What do you guys got?"

"I'm trying to figure out when this Tro-clan is supposed to arrive." Fred said going back to typing on the laptop. Liam looked down. He knew what the Tro-clan was. He knew that it would arrive very soon. But if he needed to stop it, he couldn't tell them anything. Delia saw this and held his shoulder encouragingly. She was the only person he could confide in about what he had to do and what he couldn't tell anyone. "There. That came out better. - Oh. No it didn't. It's still very preliminary, but - if these calculations are correct, this bad thing should already be here." Fred looked around. "Well, I-I guess not right here, but - here in LA." Liam and Delia walked into the reception area. Liam sat down on the settee. Delia joined him.

"Hey." Delia said.

"Hey." Liam said back. He leaned forward and rubbed his face. "When he comes, they're going to turn to me and be all 'why didn't you tell us'."

"I know." Delia rubbed his back. "But you said it yourself. They need to focus on what they need to focus on and so do we. And besides, if we tell them about Holtz now and what happened to Connor, they'll try to kill Holtz. And if you stop them, everything will turn out differently and Sahjhan might kill Connor. You said that we couldn't take that chance."

"I know." Liam said in frustration. "I just don't like some of the things that I have to do so that my family could be safe."

"I know you don't." Liam leaned back and Delia held him. Liam rugged her thigh. "You hate everything about this mission."

"I do. That's why after this, I'm done." Delia looked up at him. "I mean it." He faced her. "This is it for me. For us." Delia smiled at him.

"I love you."

"I love you too." They kissed and hugged each other.

"God knows we've been through a lot together."

"And we'll go through a lot more before we're done. But it'll be all worth it in the end."

"Aww. Isn't that sweet?" they heard a familiar voice say. Liam and Delia turned to the main entrance to the lobby and saw Buffy and Angel standing there looking at them with smiles on their faces.

"Mom. Dad." Liam shot up off the settee and went to hug his parents. "How long have you guys been standing here?" He asked as he hugged his pregnant mother.

"We came in at the part about you thinking of retiring." Buffy said pulling away. Liam hugged his father next. "I personally think it's a great idea."

"Thanks."

"Hi guys." Delia said coming over and hugging Buffy. "How are you doing Buffy?"

"I'll feel a lot better when Connor's born." Buffy said. "Can't you tell us when his birthday is?" she asked Liam.

"I can't really tell you guys anything since I changed when and who dad slept with." Liam said. They were all silent for moment. Everyone was practically looking at Liam for what he just said.

"That really sounded wrong." Angel said.

"I know." Liam said agreeing.

"Why don't we all forget what my husband said and move into the hotel." Delia suggested. Everyone agreed. Angel guided Buffy to the settee. Liam gathered up their bags and placed them on the stairs. "So, why are guys here anyway?"

"I needed a break from Sunnydale." Buffy moaned. "We found out that there is this new evil and they are nerds wanting to make mine and Faith's life miserable."

"Nerds?"

"Yeah. They screwed up a lot of Faith's jobs and then they turned her invisible. Not fun."

"I would think not." Liam said. "So how long are you guys staying?"

"Just for a few days." Buffy said. "We wanted to come and see how you two were doing after your fight."

"We're fine." Liam said smiling. "I'm actually more worried about Dawn."

"She's taking her grounding like a woman." Angel said.

"She's bitchy?" Delia slapped Liam upside of the head for his comment. Liam looked to her and she gave him a look.

"Actually she's taking it well." Buffy said with an amused expression. "What Angel should have said was that she's taking it like a Summer's woman."

"Yeah, that would have been helpful." Liam said feeling the back of his head. Wes and came out of the office looking at papers.

"Liam." He said. "If I could have your assistance with these scrolls. It is very hard to figure out what this Tro-clan is. I was hoping you could give me some future knowledge on the subject." He stopped at Liam and Delia and looked up, seeing Buffy and Angel. "Oh. Hello you two." He said smiling. "When did you arrive?"

"Just now." Angel said. "What scrolls are you talking about?" Buffy shifted herself and looked uncomfortable. Liam noticed this.

"We managed to acquire the Nyazian scrolls and are working hard on translating them. So far they tell us of the coming of a Tro-clan and we don't what it is.

"A what?"

"A Tro-clan. From we'd gathered, it is supposed to be a great evil that will arrive and bring the end to mankind. Born out of light to bring darkness. Of course I could be misreading it. Fred tells us that it is supposed to be upon us right now."

"Well that's bad." Buffy moaned.

"You ok mom?" Liam asked.

"Just Connor kicking." Buffy said. Then she held her stomach. "A lot." Wesley eyed her and looked at her swollen stomach.

"How long has this been happening?"

"A few hours."

"Maybe we should see a doctor." Delia offered.

"I'll be fine. The kicking stopped."

"If you say so." Liam said, but wasn't totally convinced. He knew what was coming. "What do you need Wes? Wes?" Wesley was off in his own little world. He was looking at Buffy and her swollen stomach. Thoughts ran around in his head. Buffy was pregnant and due any day. A Tro-clan was supposed to be upon them now. Could Connor be the Tro-clan? "Wes!" Wesley looked up at Liam who had been calling his name.

"Yes, Liam I'm right here." Wes said. "You don't have to yell."

"What I was saying to you was, what is it you need my help on?"

"Oh. Uh…..I think I figured it out." Wes looked at Buffy for a split second and then back at Liam. "But I might have to double check.

"Please tell me you are not thinking that this Tro-clan is my brother." Liam begged.

"What?!" Angel and Buffy said together making Wes jump.

"You think my son is going to be the scourge of mankind?" Buffy practically yelled. She turned to Liam. "Liam tell him that he's wrong."

"He's wrong." Liam simply said. Buffy leaned back looking relieved.

"See Wes." Angel said. "Our son is not evil."

"Liam, are you sure?" Wes asked for conformation.

"Yes." Liam said. "The Tro-clan isn't a person anyway. It's a serious of events that lead to something in the end."

"And do you know what this thing is?" Everyone turned to Liam for and answer. Liam hesitated before answering.

"Yes."

"Well…..What is it?" Buffy asked. Liam rubbed the back of his head and sighed.

"I can't say."

"Why not?" Angel asked.

"Same reason why I can't tell you guys everything. If I do, I might change the future in worse ways then it already is. I can't risk it."

"But this Tro-clan" Wes said. "Do we stop it?"

"Just have to find out." Liam shrugged. Wes sighed in frustration. "Look, I'm sorry for not being as forth coming as you want. But….."

"Uh-oh." They heard Fred say coming out from the office.

"Uh-oh?" Buffy said. "That can't be good." Fred looked up and saw Buffy and Angel.

"Buffy. Angel." She smiled at the two and ran over to them. "Guys, Buffy and Angel are here." Gunn and Cordy came out of the office and saw the couple and smiled.

"Hey Angel, man." Gunn said giving Angel a handshake. Cordy sat on Buffy's other side and hugged her.

"Hi Buffy." Cordy said. "How are you?"

"Getting through it." Buffy replied. "But I might feel better if Fred would say what her uh-oh was about." She looked to Fred who changed her smile to a frown.

"Oh, right." Fred said. "Remember before when I said I thought that maybe, possibly, perhaps I might have been off in my earlier calculations? And you asked Wes if he thought if the Tro-clan was prophesied to arise or be born and he said it could be both? And we all know that the Latin for arrive is arripare, to come to land or possibly in this instance simply to come to, as from a deep sleep?"

"Fred!" Everyone said together.

"Right. I believe that whatever this thing is, it's arriving right about…" She looked down at her watch. "Three, two, one…..now." Everyone stood still and looked around. Nothing seemed to have happened.

"Liam?" Wes asked looking at Liam. Liam looked back at him.

"Like I said." Liam said. "Serious of events. Looks like the first one started."

"Um….guys." Buffy said. Every turned to look at her. "My water just broke." Everyone stood in shock at her.

"Nice timing." Cordy commented.

…

In a busy section of town where everybody was crying on with the exciting nightlife that was LA, when deep below something was brewing. There was a chamber supported by pillars and statutes. The demon from Liam's dream, Sahjhan, walked up to the statue and started to chant.

"The weight of time is heavy on the world." Sahjhan began to chant. "And all men born must die. But there are worlds unknown, where dreamers dream and sleepers sleep, and patiently await. As pledged in Caladan by Cod-she, one shall awaken in the first year of the final century. That one, who lived before and joined Cod-she in the great sleep. Arise, as was promised and foretold. Arise. – Arise" At first nothing happened but then after a moment the room begun to shake with a blue light show. The eyes of the statue turned into a living human eyes. The statue cracks and falls to the floor leaving a man in the center. "Welcome to the twenty first century", he greeted. "Angelus is here. You'll see him soon. - You haven't used your muscles in a very long time. It will be a while before you're strong enough to..." The figure suddenly straightened up.

"Just tell me where he is", Holtz spat.

…

"Who is this 'unidentified, pregnant female'?" Lilah asked looking at surveillance footage of the Hyperion

"I - I don't know." The transcriber said. "Let me play the tape over again." The transcriber rewound the tape in a VCR. On the screen Buffy and Angel walked into the lobby.

"Buffy?"

"Buffy?" Gavin said. "The vampire slayer? That's impossible. Slayers can't go to term!"

"But that's not the wackiest thing." Lilah said looking at the footage. Liam walked up to Buffy and Angel and hugged them both.

"Two Angel's?" Lilah pulled out her cell phone.

"Linwood? It's Lilah. You're not gonna believe what I'm looking at."

…

Back in the hotel lobby, everyone stood in shock at Buffy who just said she was in labor.

"Well what are we all standing around for?" Delia asked. "Buffy's water just broke. Do you know what that means?"

"We're surrounded by vampires?" Liam answered.

"No idiot. It means…." She trailed off as she looked around and noticed the vampires on the upper balconies and some surrounding them on the ground floor, all looking at them. "Oh. We 'are' surrounded by vampires."

"Ahem," Cordy said getting everyone's attention. "So, who has a plan?"

"Don't let 'em kill us sounds like a good first step." Gunn said.

"The miracle child." A vampire said. The other vampires echo him in a whisper. "For his time has come." All of the vamps bowed down. "Praise be. Praise be. Praise be." The A.I. team all looked at them with looks of confusion.

"Hey, I'm all for being idolized, but - what the hell is going on?" Cordy said.

"What do you want?" Angel ordered.

"To protect the miracle child." The vamp leader said.

"Protect? Ah, that's good. We're all here for the same thing." Suddenly, a man dressed like a ninja came jumping down from the teaching area screaming, "Die!" All the vampires attacked him. He went down with a strangled scream. There was a crunch and then a slurping sound. The main vamp pulled away and looked at Buffy, who was now sitting up to get a better look at the action.

"As it has been prophesied by our great potentate Ul-thar, we vow our lives to protect this special child."

"You hear that? Our kid. Special." Angel said to Buffy.

"Now let us kill the humans so we may use their blood to nourish the mother - and her miracle child."

"What?" Buffy asked.

…

Linwood was walking down the hallway of Wolfram and Hart talking to his phone, flanked by Lilah and Gavin.

"I don't care how much it costs." Linwood said. "Just find someone who can answer the bloody question." He closed his phone. "Heads are gonna roll if the Senior Partners hear about this."

"They won't." Gavin said reassuringly. "That's why we came directly to you."

"Buffy - pregnant. Two Angel's. How'd we miss it?"

"I'm sequestering the psychics and the mind readers in the conference room." Lilah informed him.  
"We will get to the bottom of this."

"Man works hard - builds something - waters it - grows rich and powerful. - Leaves his wife for a younger beauty. - These are the reasons we take certain - blood oaths. - And to have it all vanish because..."

"Sir, I can't stress enough. There is no way we could have foreseen all this."

"She's right, sir." Gavin said. "No one could have known."

…

"Buffy, you might wanna join the fight." Angel said.

"Sorry, honey. I'm gonna have to be Switzerland and sit this one out. Now, you did say you were just gonna kill the humans, right?" She asked the vamps.

"Mom!" Liam said looking at her.

"What?"

"Yes, just the humans." The vampire leader said. "Then we will nourish you, slice you open, wear your entrails as a belt and consume your eyeballs before we worship the miracle child." Buffy jumped off the settee and went to stand beside Angel.

"Okay. I'm in."

"Gunn, Liam, and I can hold them off for as long as we can." Angel said. "The rest of you, get Buffy to the car."

"Oh, I'd rather stay and fight." Buffy said. "Show these vamps a thing or two about real carnage."

"Like hell you are." Liam said. "I am not risking you and Connor if I can help it."

"Charles, do you have an extra dagger I could borrow?" Fred asked. Gunn pulled out a dagger and handed it to her.

"This okay?" he asked.

"Perfect."

"On my count of three." Angel said. "One, two..." Fred held the dagger against Buffy's belly.

"You freaks make one move and I'll slice the miracle kid into triplets." Liam stared at Fred in shock.

"It's always the quiet ones." Cordy and Delia said looking at Fred.

"Wait!" the lead vampire said.

"They don't know the knife can't hurt the baby." Fred said to Buffy.

"They do now." Buffy said. "Vampires have great hearing." The vamp leader smiled. "Here we go." The vampires attacked and a big fight ensues.

"Get her out of here!" Liam ordered before ripping his short off and morphing into his demon form. He, Gunn, and Angel engaged the vamps. Delia made a be-line for the weapons cabinet where she kept her broadsword. She put it over her back and pulled out the blade. The rest of the gang gathered around Buffy protectively and guided her out of the lobby. Delia protected them all by slicing off a few vamp heads and following them out. Gunn followed after them. Then Angel after he staked a vamp. Liam tore a few heads off before following suit. The rest of the vampires followed after them.

…

"Commander, this should provide your ops team with a solid tactical base. Plan and elevation drawings of every floor in Angel's hotel. I also have strategic surveillance capabilities, so we can monitor the engagement from here." Gavin said.

"Excellent. I'm confident my men will be able to capture and retrieve the target. The larger question revolves around subsequent extraction of the target's cargo." The commander said. Linwood looked from the commander to Gavin.

"Getting the baby from Buffy." Gavin clarified.

"Of course. And for that we have called in an expert." Linwood said. Lilah walked in with a man dressed in black.

"You flatter me, sir." The man said.

"Gentlemen, may I introduce Dr. Fetvanovich from our satellite office in the Balkans." Lilah said.

Linwood shook the doctor's hand. "How do you do, doctor?"

"Dr. Fetvanovich is the world's foremost specialist in paranormal obstetrics. We are very fortunate he's consented to help."

"It is I who feel fortunate. A vampire/slayer birth is, ah, unprecedented. I look forward to dissecting both the mother and the child."

…

Cordy, Angel, Buffy, Liam, Delia, and Gunn were in Angel's car while Wesley and Fred were in his car. Gunn was looking out over the back as Angel sped down the road.

"I think we lost them." Gunn said.

"Anybody hurt?" Angel asked.

"Nothing a couple of band aids and a pint of Heathbar crunch can't fix." Cordy said.

"We're good." Liam said.

"Buffy, everything okay?" Angel asked. Buffy was sitting in the back between Liam and Gunn.

"Yeah. Fine." Buffy said.

"You all right mom?" Liam asked.

"It's nothing!"

"Where 'are' we going?" Delia asked.

"Somewhere safe." Angel responded.

"Where's safe?" Cordy asked. "The hotel is definitely out."

"How about if we go to..." Gunn began to say.

"Vegas? Sorry, Gunn, too high profile, but I agree we need to get out of dodge." Angel said. Liam's phone began to ring.

"Hello." He said picking it up. "No I can't….Yeah…alright." Liam hung up. "That was Wes. Since I can't tell you guys about all of this, we have to go back to the hotel and get the scrolls for Wes."

"Why can't you just tell us already?" Gunn complained.

"Not my job to do so. The only thing that can help us is back at the hotel. We can't protect Connor unless we get the scrolls."

"Okay then. Quick stop." Angel said.

…

Lilah, Linwood, and Gavin all watched on the monitors in the basement of Wolfram and Hart as some guy strolled in.

"Is this man with you?" the doctor asked the commander. A team was at the Hyperion and setting up medical tools when a man had walked in and interrupted them.

"Where is Angelus?" the man asked.

"Who is this pirate with a sword, and what is he doing in the middle of my operation?" Linwood asked.

"I don't know, sir. But he called Angel by his old name, Angelus." Lilah said. The audio started to crackle.

"I need better audio."

"Any second." The transcriber said fiddling with some wires.

"Hand over the vampires." The new arrival said.

"This has gone on long enough." Linwood picked up his radio. "I don't care who that man is. Take him out. Take him out now. Over."

"Take him out!" the commander said on the screen.

The screen went to snow as the commandos closed in and the screaming began.

"This should be sweet." Gavin said.

"Picture?" Linwood said.

"I'm working on it, sir." The transcriber said.

"Burke's never lost." Gavin said.

"I'm sure it'll be over in just a second." Lilah added. There was a long scream on the speakers.

"That should do it."

"Anybody there? Over." Linwood said into the radio.

…

Angel turned the convertible into a dark alley and brought it to a stop.

"Why're we stopping here?" Cordy asked.

"It's only a couple of blocks from the hotel. I'll go the rest of the way on foot." Angel said.

"No dad." Liam said. "Mom needs you right now. I'll go."

"You sure?"

"I'm faster than you are believe it or not." Lim replied smiling and hopping out of the car. Angel gave a disapproving look. "The scrolls?" Liam asked Wes as he pulled up and got out of his car.

"In the cabinet back in the office." Wes replied.

"If I'm not back in five minutes, leave without me."

"NO." Delia said. "I am not going to leave you."

"I'll meet up with you guys. Just get somewhere safe."

"Liam?" Buffy said.

Yeah."

"Just get back soon."

"I will." Liam said kissing his mother's forehead. "You just hang in there." She nodded back. Liam jumped onto the hood of the car and from there to the bottom rung of a fire-escape ladder and made his way up the side of the building.

…

Liam ran along the corridor in the Hyperion, dropping down into the lobby and looking around at the destruction of Doctor Fetvanovich's equipment and the bodies of the W&H team. He sees the doctor's body, and chicken feet sticking out of his pants.

"What a fucking mess." Liam said.

"Angelus." He heard someone say. Liam turned around and saw Holtz. "I've been looking for you."

…

Buffy was still in the back of the car. Wes was sitting on the trunk facing Fred who was standing behind the car. Gunn was sitting on the side of the passenger door. Angel was sitting with Buffy while Delia sat in the passenger seat. Cordy started the car.

"He said five minutes!" Delia said.

"It's been six and a half." Cordy replied.

"That's so typical of him!" Buffy said.

"It probably wouldn't hurt to wait another minute, right? I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen in another minute?" Fred asked. Buffy let out a scream. "Ask a stupid question."

"What are we gonna do? Shouldn't we go somewhere?" Cordy said.

"What's keeping Liam?" Gunn asked impatiently.

"Buffy, what is it?" Angel asked.

"The… The baby." Buffy managed. "I think it might be time." They all just stared at her.

"He said to go without him." Delia said.

"I am not leaving my son." Angel said. "I'll go see what's keeping him.

**And this is where I stop for now. Lullaby is next and therefore, Connors birth. I'm getting excited about all this. Even though I know what's going to happen. Tell me what you think. Comment and Review.**


	13. Lullaby

Chapter 13: Lullaby

**OK. Continuing on with Connor's coming in to this world. Liam does something that I doubt any of you guys expected him to do. It's interesting. Enjoy.**

Liam stood in the darkened lobby filed with the carnage of Wolfram and Harts ops team. He looking at a man who he didn't recognized but called him 'Angelus'.

"Sorry, do I know you?" Liam said.

"I feel insulted." The man said. "After everything you've done to me. After all the time I spent hunting you and Darla."

"Holtz."

"Now you do." Suddenly Liam was grabbed by some of Holtz's demons by the wrists and neck in some metal clamps on the ends of long sticks, holding him fast. "For two hundred years I slept. For two hundred years - I dreamt of nothing - but this moment." He laid a sword against Liam's throat.

"A lot has changed in two hundred years Holtz. Including me."

"Really?" Holtz splashed holy water on Liam's face. Nothing happened. Holtz looked confused. He splashed some more holy water and still nothing happened. "How can this be?"

"Check me heartbeat. I'm not Angelus anymore Holtz. I killed him long ago. I'm human now." Holtz placed his hand on Liam's heart and felt it beat several times.

"Human?"

"Yes. Like I said. A lot has changed. I regained my soul. I atoned for my actions for hundred years. I was granted forgiveness. I'm human now. Fighting the things I used to be."

"And Darla?"

"I killed her. She was going to kill someone I cared about after I got my soul. I killed her to save that person. Then she came back by some of my enemies and I killed her again. She's gone Holtz. You missed your chance at both of us." Holtz lowered his sword and looked beside himself. He had missed his opportunity at getting revenge for his family's deaths. "I'm sorry."

"Liam?" they heard a voice. Holtz turned around and saw Angel come out from behind a pillar. Angel stopped dead and stared at Holtz. "Holtz – my god." Some of Holtz's demons held Angel by the wrists and neck with the same clasps they were holding Liam.

"Nice one Angel." Liam said.

"So, this the real Angelus." Holtz said walking over to Angel. "And to think that I actually believed this imposter was you. Saying that you had changed and that you were human."

"Oops." Angel said looking at Liam. Holtz threw some Holy water at Angels face, and his face morphed into vampface for a split second, then back to human.

"Now things are looking like they always have."

"The Tro-clon - the prophecy - raised up from darkness to bring darkness. That's you. Holtz, whatever brought you here..."

"You did. - You and your demon bitch." Holtz put the sword tip against Angel's throat, "I 'will' have justice."

"No. - I don't think you will. - There is no justice for the things I did to you."

"You didn't do them to me. And you didn't do them alone." Holtz turned away and addresses the other Grapplar demons. "Find the female. If he's here, Darla can't be far." He turned to look at Angel. "Or are you going to tell me 'that's' changed, too? Your double said that he killed her twice."

"Well, actually, I killed her the first time. He killed her the second after she was resurrected."

"And why do you expect me to believe you?"

…

Buffy screamed again.

"Angel and Liam are not back with the scrolls yet. I'd feel a lot better if we had the ancient prophecies to guide us." Wes said.

"Please! Women have been giving birth without ancient prophecies for years!" Cordy retorted.

"What we could really use right about now is some Vaseline and a catcher's mitt." Gunn said.

"I don't think she's ready to deliver yet." Fred said.

"We have to go. We can't stay here. It's too exposed. Angel and Liam should have been back by now." Wes said.

"Something must have happened." Gunn said. Delia held tightly to Buffy's hand. She was trying not to squeeze too hard.

"Just breathe Buffy." Delia said.

"I… don't… know… how." Buffy said.

"What?" Delia asked. "You don't know how to breathe?"

"I… quit… the… classes." Buffy screamed.

"Now it's up to us to protect Angel's unborn child." Wes said. "Buffy, we're trying to take you out of here. Relax. The breathing goes something like this: heh, heh, heh, hoh, hoh, hoh, heh, heh, heh..."

"I! Quit!" Buffy screamed as she punched Wesley, sending him back into a wall.

…

Holtz was looking at Angel's swords. Angel and Liam were still held tight be the Grappler demons.

"You're still human. How'd you manage this?" Angel asked, still held by the grips.

"Well I'm guessing by magic." Liam said.

"Liam not now."

"So, the question becomes: now that I have you what's the best way to get her?" Holtz said, putting the sword back.

"Only dark magicks could have brought you this far."

"She was always the trick, you know, not you. Darla was the unpredictable one."

"Was it a demon or something else?"

"What if I just kill you now?" Holtz held a stake to Angel's heart. "If I killed the both of you, would she somehow sense it? Would she then come running? Would that bring her bursting through those doors, I wonder?"

"Did something come to you, or did you seek it out?"

"She might show herself in the service of revenge. It can be a powerful motivator."

"Yes, it can. What did you have to give up for this second chance?"

"Give up? I had nothing to give up. You saw to that."

"We took a lot from you, that's true. But we didn't get everything. We couldn't take your soul."

"What do you know of a soul?"

"I know yours will be destroyed if you allow yourself to be used in the service of evil. You're a good man, Holtz. A righteous man and you're being used for some purpose other than justice."

"Could it be you really have changed? I don't remember you ever pleading so cravenly before."

"And I remember you used to work with men." Holtz backhanded Angel across the face.

…

"Smack him again." Gunn said. Cordy smacked Wesley across his cheek.

"Ow." Wes opened his eyes. "That hurts."

"Well, you know what they say: birth… painful."

"Yes, but generally for the mother, not the bystanders. How long have I been out?" Wes accepted a hand from Gunn to help him to his feet.

"Not long, but we seem to be between contractions now." Fred said. They all looked at Buffy who was sitting in the backseat gesturing and obviously talking to herself while crying despite the fact that Delia was still in the car with her.

"Yep. She's been doing that." Cordy said.

"Hormones." Gunn said.

"Come on then. Buffy? Buffy, do you feel well enough to travel?" Wesley asked. Buffy nodded a little.

"Good."

"Wes, what are you waiting for?" Cordy asked.

"I presume we have a tire iron in the trunk?" Wes asked.

"Yeah, why? We got a flat?" Gunn asked.

"And how about a hurling ax, or some sort of heavy mallet?" They all looked up and saw a few Grappler demons standing at the opening of the alley. "Also a shotgun wouldn't be a terrible thing at this juncture." They all turned and saw that there were more demons at that end of the alley also.

…

"Are you still concerned about my soul, Angelus? My vampire priest?" Holtz asked. The door opened and a Grappler demon came in. "Excuse me." He said to Angel. Holtz walked over to the demon to receive the news that the demon had brought. "You've got her? Good. Bring her in." Both Angel and Liam's eyes widened at the thought that they had Buffy. But Lilah walked in instead.

"Lilah." They both said.

"This isn't her." Holtz said. He threw Holy Water on her. Nothing happened. "She's not even a vampire." Lilah wiped her face dry.

"No, I'm an attorney." She said.

"Let me guess: dead guys all over my floor… friends of yours?" Angel asked.

"I was actually gonna ask about the guy with the chicken feet." Liam said craning his neck to look at thr dead doctor. "That's just weird."

"Look, if I'd known you were torturing the both of them, I wouldn't have interrupted." Lilah said. "Please, continue. I'll wait until you're finished."

"When I'm finished, they'll be dead." Holtz replied.

"Really?"

"You say you're an attorney. You deal in man's laws, I deal in God's."

"Ah, right. A good guy."

"Do you know what he is?"

"Yeah, I know. Vampire, cursed by gypsies who restored his soul. Destined to atone for centuries of evil, wacky sidekicks, yada, yada. I'd have him killed myself, except the people I work for have this," Lilah made air quotes, "'policy.' But what I am really interested in is how there are two of them."

"One is human."

"Really?"

"Yes." Holtz turned to Angel. "What does she mean 'cursed by gypsies'?" Holtz asked Angel.

"Long story, Holtz. I doubt it would interest you much." Angel said.

"How about I go to my car for about twenty seconds? That should give you enough time in here. But I would like for you to not kill the human version so that I can question him. Then I gotta call some people to clean this mess up. I've got an early staff meeting in the morning." Lilah said. Liam spotted a grenade on the floor in the hand of a dead man.

"I can't allow you two leave." Holtz said to Lilah. Liam craned his neck to look at the elevator behind him.

"What do you mean? Of course you can."

"No. You said you work for the law." Liam put the tip of his shoe under the dead man's open hand.

"No, I didn't. I said I'm a lawyer. I don't care about the law."

"Lilah? Angel?" Liam said.

"What?" she asked, turning to him. Angel looked at him and saw the grenade on the tip of his shoe.

"Duck." Liam flipped the grenade up and caught the pin in his mouth. He shook his head and the grenade flew free from the pin. The top came off the grenade as it landed on the floor and exploded a moment later, blasting Liam back and throwing Holtz to the floor. Angel was thrown back by the blast. Both he and Liam were free. In all the confusion, the men took the opportunity to escape through the elevator shafts. They ran back to the alley that he had left their women and friends at.

"So did you know that Holtz was going to come back?" Angel asked his son.

"Yeah." Liam replied.

"And you didn't tell us, why?"

"Because – I got plans."

…

"Search the grounds!" Holtz said to his minions after they got up. He looked to Lilah. "Those men you sent to kill Angelus, they were each of them brave."

"Oh, good." Lilah said.

"They fought to the last."

"Yeah, I get 'that'." Lilah said looking at the bodies on the floor.

"But send more, and I'll do the same. No one will have him but me."

"There weren't sent for Angel. This was meant to be a party for his girlfriend."

"You know of Darla?"

"No. Darla's dead. She was killed by either him or his look alike. I was talking about his newer girlfriend, Buffy. They Vampire Slayer. You heard of them right? Supposed to kill his kind but she fell in love with him instead. And apparently carrying his unborn child."

"Hmm." Holtz turned away with a nod.

…

Wes, Gunn, Cordy, Fred, and Delia held off the demons while Buffy sat in the car arguing with herself again.

"Keep the moving!" Wes called.

"Don't let them get behind you!" Gunn called. Buffy shook her head and climbed in the driver's seat.

"Charles!" Fred cried out. Gunn clobbered the Grapplar about to get Fred. "Thanks." Fred swung her bat at Gunn. He ducked and Fred's swing hit the demon behind him full across the face.

"Hold the line." Delia ordered and sliced a few demon heads. While everyone continued to fight, Buffy started the car up and put it in drive. Buffy drove forward and plowed down two demons. Then, putting it in reverse, she ran over one behind the car. Braking again, she put it in drive and drove right out of the alley. Angel and Liam came up and stood behind the group standing in the alley. Angel craned his head so he could see over everyone's shoulders.

"What are we looking at?" he asked. They all turned and stared at the two.

…

"Holtz?" Wes asked.

"Yeah." Angel answered.

"The vampire hunter that tracked you and Darla..."

"Through the late seventeen hundreds, yeah."

"Sure it wasn't his great, great, great-grandson?" Gunn asked.

"No, it was him."

"Maybe he's part of what's supposed to rain down ruination upon mankind. The Nyazian Prophecies did say that the Tro-clan was going to be a confluence of events." Fred said.

"And the sudden appearance of an eighteenth century vampire hunter in the twenty first century does seem pretty confluey." Cordy said.

"You think he's here for the baby?"

"I don't think he even knows about it." Liam said. "He didn't even know about mom. But now that he and Wolfram and Hart know about me, it won't be too long before things start going to hell."

"Figuratively or literally?" Cordy asked. Liam gave her a look.

"But he wouldn't have to." Fred said. "That's the tragic beauty of a cosmic convergence. I... I mean, he just plays his own small part. He... he comes here looking for Angel and Darla, and in the process ends up finding Angel's unborn child in Buffy, who, as it turns out, wasn't evil at all as we feared, but was actually meant to be some sort of Messianic figure. But Holtz kills it before it's even born and his vengeance somehow triggers the end of the world!" Fred smiling at the others, who just looked at her. "Or not! It could go either way."

"We need to find Buffy before Holtz finds out about her and gets there before we do." Wes said.

"I can find her a lot faster on my own." Angel said.

"Of course."

"If you guys could just find some place safe for her to have this baby, we'll come to you."

"We can do that." Gunn said. Angel turned to leave, but Cordy called him back.

"Angel" Cordy said. Angel turned to her. "Be careful"

"Angel!" Wes said. Angel turned back to him. "The scrolls, you didn't manage to..."

"No." With that, he was gone.

"I'm sure we'll be fine without them." Wes said. Liam bowed his head and sighed. Delia held his hand.

"We'll get through this." Delia said encouragingly.

"It's not this that I'm worried about." Liam said. "It's what comes afterwards."

…

"You always did love a view." Angel said gently. He had found his car and found Buffy on the roof.

"Look at it. Listen to it. Can you smell it? This world. This horrible world. Why would anyone want to bring a baby into it?" Buffy asked sadly.

"To make it better, maybe?"

"Or to destroy it finally."

"Why is it everyone insists on planning my son's future before he's even born?"

"Our son." Buffy walked past Angel.

"Buffy..."

"Angel, I'm not having this baby."

"Okay, not sure you have a lot of choice in the matter..."

"No, I mean I don't want to have this baby. I don't want to bring it into this world."

"Oh."

"Liam told us about what happened in the future. He told us about how we all died. About how he died." She indicated to her stomach. She was crying. "He told us about how the future is brought to hell and I don't want to bring our children into it if that's what awaits for them. I don't want them to suffer." She sobbed. "I want them to grow up being happy. Not fighting all the time." Angel walked up to her and held her.

"Shh."

"I can't do this Angel!"

"Yes you can. You're Buffy Anne Summers. You're the strongest person I have ever known."

"No, not when it comes to this!"

"You are. You saved me when I was at my worst. And kept saving me from then on. And you're going to help our baby, our son become someone. And we will do the same for our other two children. And Liam is going to save the future so that we can have that opportunity."

"I can't do it."

"You can. And you're not going to do it alone. You have me. You have Dawn, you have your friends, you have everyone in LA. And you have our other son Liam." Buffy cried into Angel's chest. She believed him and his words of encouragement. She was just too afraid. Angel's cell phone began to ring and he answered it. "Yeah."

_"We found a place."_ Wes said over the phone.

"Is it safe?"

_"I'm sure by the time you get here it'll be safe as houses." _Angel closed the phone and put it back in his duster pocket.

"Hey Buffy? We should get going. I feel a storm coming. You okay?" Buffy was holding her stomach now. "Is it a contraction?"

"No. It's something else." She said.

…

Angel helped Buffy down the stairs into caritas where everyone else was gather.

"Just a few more steps." Angel said to her. "That's it. Okay. All right." Everyone came over to Buffy and Angel. "Guys. A chair. Chair." Wes pulled out a chair for Buffy.

"Geez, what happened?" Gunn asked.

"Easy." Angel said helping Buffy into the chair.

"Thanks." Buffy said.

"You're welcome." Cordy answered. Liam knelt in front of Buffy.

"Mom, you ok?" he asked, concerned etched across his face.

"I'll be fine." Buffy said. "I just need some people to help me through this."

"You have me, mom." Buffy smiled at her son. He smiled back. Angel nodded to the men to come over to the corner of the room away from Buffy.

"You gave us quite a scare." Fred said. "But I guess you're used to that, what with being a scary thing and all. You're the slayer, you're a very scary person."

"Thanks." Buffy said sarcastically. "Yeah. I'm sorry about that. I don't know what got into me."

"First time pregnancy." Delia suggested. "Can scare a lot of women."

"How would you know?"

"I've seen it happen to some friends of mine."

"I hope that they were a little bit more braver than I was."

"You all were about the same."

"She's in a lot of pain." Angel said to Lorne, Gunn, Wes, and Liam.

"How frequent are the contractions?" Wes asked.

"It's been... I don't know, maybe an hour?"

"An hour? She was well into the active stage of labor. I don't understand."

"I don't either. She just stopped having them."

"But the pain she's experiencing?"

"She says that she might be experiencing something else."

"That's worrying."

"Angel!" Cordy called.

"Buffy? Buffy, what is it?" Angel asked. She was hunched over her stomach and crying.

"Angel." She cried.

"Let's get her into my bedroom. Come on." Lorne said. Liam and Angel helped Buffy up and Lorne led them to his room. "Easy. Easy now. Come on, sweetheart. We'll get you right in there." Lorne said to Buffy as he moved some things off his bed. They laid her down and Delia and Wes came in to check on her. Angel stood by the doorway and watched them. After a minute, they came over to him.

"Is she going to be ok?" Angel asked.

"She's tough as nails." Wes said.

"Also a slayer, so that goes in her favor a little." Delia said.

"What about the baby?" Angel asked. Delia and Wes looked at Buffy and then back at Angel. They led Angel out into the main part of the bar and left Fred with Buffy.

"What? What is it?" Angel asked.

"Angel, I think you need to prepare yourself for the worst if we don't get her to a doctor soon." Wes said.

"No."

"The baby's heartbeat is faint. Very faint. And Buffy's is too."

"What do we do?"

"I'm not sure there is anything we can do."

"Ah, what about a c-section?" Cordy suggested.

"Normally that's exactly what we'd do in this instance," Fred said, "But... the mystical forces that's been protecting the pregnancy..." Thunder rumbles outside.

"...is gonna end up killing it." Angel finished.

"That's my fear." Wes said.

"It's not going to kill her." Liam said determinedly. "Connor will be born and my mother is going to live." Angel sighed, and rubbed his eyes.

"This doesn't make any sense." He said. "I mean, this whole thing has been a miracle, right? You don't just get half a miracle, do you? - I mean, the powers - they brought her this far, they protected the baby all this time..."

"We don't know that." Gunn said. "We don't know that it's the powers that's been protecting it. Angel, I'm sorry, but what if what Buffy's carrying is the thing in the prophecies? That scourge of mankind that's supposed to plunge the world into ultimate darkness? What if... what if what's happening to Buffy now, what if that's the powers? Finally stepping up to the plate and doing something for once!" Liam stepped over to Gunn and slapped him upside of the head.

"Connor's not the scourge on mankind." Liam said. Gunn rubbed the back of his head and look at him "Ok. Next person who says that he's evil, I don't care what you guys do in the future, I will kill you." Angel walked to Lorne's bedroom and shut the door.

…

"Hi. How're you doing?" Angel asked, sitting in a chair next to the bed.

"He finally stopped kicking." Buffy said weakly.

"Did he?" Angel leaned forward and put his hand on Buffy's belly. "I guess he figured he finally got your attention."

"He's dying. And so am I. Aren't we?"

"No."

"You've never been able to lie very well. I can feel his life slipping away and mine's going with him."

"Then don't let it. You have to fight for this. Please."

"I don't know how. My miracle baby. My little Conner." Angel had tears in his eyes as he held Buffy's hand and kissed it.

…

Gunn got up off his stool.

"Maybe I should go in there, apologize." Gunn suggested.

"Might be the best course of action." Liam said. Gunn made his way to the bedroom, but Wes took hold of his arm.

"Best to just stay here, wait this out." Wes said.

"I think both Angel and Buffy just need a little time alone." Cordy said.

"This isn't gonna end well, is it?" Fred asked.

"Yes it will." Liam said getting up. "I'm tired of everyone thinking that Connors gonna die. He won't. I know Connor, and he's a fighter. He'll survive." Liam went over to a corner of the bar and leaned up against the wall. Delia got up and went over to console him.

"Okay. Everybody's drinking. I'm buying." Lorne said. He got up from his chair and saw Holtz walking into the bar. "Oh, hello."

"Hello." Holtz said looking at Lorne up and down.

"We're not open at the moment. Why don't you come back tomorrow night?" He handed him a flyer. "It's the grand re-opening. Here. Here's a flyer."

"Thanks." Holtz said taking the flyer. Lorne walked around the bar to pour some drinks. Holtz took a slow look around, then turned and walked out, singing quietly. "Sleep, my love and peace attend thee, all through the night, guardian angels god will send you, all through the night..." Lorne's eyes suddenly widen and he dropped the bottle and glass back onto the counter.

"Run!" Lorne yelled. Liam and Delia looked at him

"What's going on?" Cordy asked.

"Just run! Run." Lorne headed for the back of the club. The others got up and followed him. A red metal barrel tumbled down the stairs and came to rest just on the other side of the metal security doorway. A grenade bounced down the steps and came to rest beside it. A beat later the grenade exploded and a big fireball swept through the club, destroying everything in its wake.

…

"What's going on?" Angel asked as everyone came barreling into the room and hearing an explosion.

"We're being attacked!" Wes said.

"Attacked? I thought you had double protection sanctorium spells?"

"I do. It's a thing with the door and the stairs and the world and the thing. Never mind!" Lorne said.

"Apparently you can be outside and shove stuff in." Gunn said.

"I just said that!" A burning beam came crashing down next to wear Angel and Buffy were standing. Buffy let out a scream.

"It's him." Angel yelled.

"What!? Who?" Buffy asked.

"Come on. We've got to move the bed." Lorne said.

"Angel?" Buffy asked, looking Angel in the eyes.

"It's a long story Buffy. One that we don't have time for."

"What's behind the bed?" Liam asked as they pulled out the bed.

"An old loading dock door. I had the whole place converted." Lorne said.

"What's on the other side?" Gunn asked.

"An alley."

"You got an ax, a hammer or anything?"

"Buddha head." Wes said.

"Rhino." Cordy said holding a rhino statue while Wes held a Buddha head.

"Angel! Liam! Delia! We could use some strength here!" Wes called.

"Cordy, Fred!" Angel said. The girls went and helped Buffy out while Angel, Liam, and Delia stepped between Wes and Gunn who stepped aside and watched them batter down the wall with their fists and feet. A back alley lit by Chinese lanterns was revealed when they broke through into it from Lorne's bedroom. Wooden shards flew as the team enlarged the opening. Cordy stepped through it, followed by Wes, Fred, Gunn and Lorne. Liam and Delia came out, then Angel who was half carrying Buffy through it. It was now raining.

"No. No. Go on. I can't. It doesn't matter anyway." Buffy said.

"I'm not leaving you, alright? Easy. Alright." Angel pulled out his keys and tossed them towards the others. "Go get my car. It's out front." Angel lowered Buffy to the ground and crouched beside her. "I've got you." Cordy came up to them, but Angel waved her away. "Go!" All of them turned and hurried off, but after a few steps Liam and Delia stopped and ran back to crouch beside Angel and Buffy.

"Guys, go with them." Angel said.

"It's okay. They'll come back for us. Besides, I'm not going to leave my family alone." Liam replied.

"Same for me." Delia said. Liam took off his coat and slung it around Delia's shoulders. Angel nodded to them and looked back to Buffy.

"You're gonna be okay." He said to her.

"No. No, I don't think so." Buffy said.

"Yes it is. When have you ever given up this way Buffy? Never. And you're not giving up now."

"We'll get through this mom." Liam said holding her hand. Angel took his position at Buffy's feet and lifted up her dress to take a look at her dilation. "How's she doin' dad?"

"It's crowning. I can see his head."

"Do you know what to do?" Delia asked.

"I think so."

"Ok, switch." Liam said and moved to take Angels spot. "Hold mom's hand."

"Have you done this before?"

"Just go." Angel moved to Buffy's side and took her hand. "Dad, give me your jacket." Angel took off his jacket and handed it to Liam."

"I can't do this." Buffy said crying in pain.

"Sure you can. The hard parts already over." Liam lifted up Buffy's dress. "OK mom, I want you to look at dad and focus on his face. Breathe with her." He ordered his parents. Angel started breathing and Buffy was following what he was doing. "Ok, now on this next contraction, I want you to push as hard as you can ok?" Buffy nodded and when the next contraction came, she pushed as hard as she could, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"You can do this Buffy." Delia said encouragingly.

"Great mom. That was great. His heads out. Ok, the next contraction is really important. We need to get the shoulders out."

"I can't do this anymore." Buffy sobbed.

"You can do this Buffy." Angel said. "This is it."

"No. It hurts too much."

"You've been through worse." Liam said. "Now keep breathing." Angel and Buffy kept breathing with each other. Liam placed Angel's jacket on the ground before Buffy. "Come on mom. Push. Push." Buffy pushed yet again, screaming. She pushed all that she could. "One more time I swear." Buffy pushed again and sighed in relief seconds later when she heard her little boy's cries fill the alley. Everyone smiled and the arrival of the new Summers. "Good job mom." Liam took out his knife and cut the umbilical cord.

"I wanna see." she told him tiredly as she watched Liam cradle the baby. She tilted her head to the side in amazement. Liam placed his big brother in Angel jacket and wrapped it around him. He placed the new born in Buffy's arms. She smiled at her crying baby boy. "Hey, hi little guy." She gushed at him. Liam couldn't help but smile. "Angel, look at we did." Angel looked down at his family and smiled. Delia had tears of joy running down her face.

"Guys." Liam said, his senses picking up something. "We need to go. Now." Angel scooped Buffy and Connor up in his arms. Holtz stepped through the hole in Lorne's wall into the alley. He lifted a crossbow and aimed it at Angel as Angel slowly stood up, cradling his wife and infant child. Liam stood up and looked at Holtz with an angry face. For a moment they all just looked at each other.

"Angel." Buffy said in an almost whisper.

"Shh, it's going to be all right Buffy." Angel said looking down at her. Angel looked back at Holtz. Angel's car appeared at the mouth of the alley and Wesley got out. Angel looked back at Holtz who lowered his crossbow. Angel looked at him gratefully and carried Buffy out of the alley. Liam and Delia hadn't moved. They just stared at Holtz as the rain came down. Liam walked closer to Holtz.

"You're a good man Holtz." Liam said. "The only reason you're not dead now, is because I believe you're a good man." Holtz just stared at him. "But if you come near them, I will do what Angelus didn't do. I will kill you." Liam looked at Holtz for a few more seconds before turning and walking out of the alley with Delia holding his right arm. Holtz watched them leave.

"Do it! Now's your chance." Sahjhan said. "Do it! Finish it while you still can! You can't just let him walk away! Not now! Not after what you swore to me!" Holtz watched as Liam and Delia got into the car.

"I swore that I would show no mercy." Holtz said watching Angel's car drive away. "And I won't."

**Finally got Connor's birth up. Tell me what you guys think. I have plans for Holtz, Connor, and Sahjhan. Trust me on this. It's going to be good. So I tell myself. I think it' good but it's you guys that'll tell me if it's really good or not. Please Comment and Review.**


	14. Parents

Chapter 14: Parents

**Ok guys. Here is the next chapter. Its right after Buffy gave birth to Connor. Sorry about the long wait. I started my new job on Monday and I've worked about 40 hours this week. Combine that with school, and I barley have enough time to watch a commercial on television. But don't worry, I have not forgotten about this and you guys. I will definitely finish this story and the one that will come after words. Yes, there is another sequel. I will probably have more time in the summer and my schedule at work might change around so I don't work for so long. Because of recent events, I will probably post weekly now. I'm sorry for it. But I hope you enjoy the story and this chapter.**

…

Buffy was rushed into the hospital ward by Liam while Angel held his and Buffy's new born son in his arms.

"Hey! We need a doctor!" Liam yelled. A female doctor who was talking to a couple of nurses turned around to Liam's call and went over to the family.

"What happened?" the doctor asked.

"She just gave birth." Liam informed her. "It was in an alley and we want to make sure she and the baby are alright."

"Nurse, get her to examination room two." Doctor ordered a nurse. The nurse came up behind Buffy and started wheeling her away. Buffy clung on to Angel's hand.

"Angel." Buffy whispered.

"I'll be here Buffy." Angel said.

"Sir we need to take the baby." The doctor said. Angel was reluctant to let go of Connor, especially after everything they had just went through.

"Angel, they need to see that he's ok." Liam told him. Angel looked to his grown up son and down to his newborn son in his arms.

"I-I-I don't…." Angel stammered.

"Angel." Liam placed a hand on Angel's arm. "Let them do their jobs. There isn't anything we can do." After a beat, Angel reluctantly gave Connor to the doctors and they started taking him to through the double doors. Angel followed but was stopped by the doctor.

"You gonna have to stay here." She said and went through the doors. Angel just stood staring at where his wife and child had just disappeared to. In just several hours, he and his family had been attacked by vampires and Holtz. Holtz. An enemy from his past he thought he was rid of. Now he was back and nearly got his family killed a number of times. Now Buffy had given birth and didn't know if either of them would be alright. A hand was placed on his shoulder and Angel turned to see his other son looking at him.

"Dad, you're not going to do anything for mom by standing here like a statue." Liam said. "Come with us to the waiting room." Angel followed his son to where the rest of the A.I. was seated. Wes and Gun were standing while Cordy, Fred, and Delia sat. Once they saw the men coming towards them, they got up and Wes and Gunn turned to them. "Mom and Connor just went into the examination rooms. We'll be waiting for a bit." Everyone sighed heavily. Angel started shifting his feet anxiously.

"Angel, are you alright?" Wes asked.

"No." Angel said. "My wife and my newborn son are being looked at by doctors and there's not a damn thing I can do."

"Dad, calm down." Liam said. "Both mom and Connor are fighters. They'll make it."

"But if they don't?" Angel said frantically. He started cry. "I mean this is all different from how your future was. Something could have changed. You might have forgotten something that Darla did that Buffy didn't do. She could have…" Liam slapped his father on the back of the head. Angel immediately shut up. Everyone stared at Liam and what he just did. Angel and Liam stared at each other.

"If I am able to do that, then mom lives. And I am sure Connor will too." Angel calmed down some and nodded his head but didn't look that convinced.

"If you ask me, I think we all deserve some Z's man." Gunn said. "We were attacked by vamps and nearly blown up by some 18th century dude here in the 21st century. I need to sit." Gunn sat down and sighed.

"I'm with Gunn." Cordy said. "I mean, yeah I'm worried for Buffy and Connor, but we really need some resting time." She sat back down in her seat.

"That's all we can do for the moment. That, pray, and hope for the best." Wes said.

"But what are we going to do about Holtz?" Fred asked.

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it." Liam said, "I'm gonna go call the gang in Sunnydale and update them on what's going on." Liam left the gang with Delia looking at him as he left. Liam got to a payphone and dropped in a few quarters, dialing a number. He waited for five rings before the phone was answered.

"_Hello?"_ Liam heard that familiar British accent.

"Grandpa, it's me Liam."

"_Oh, hello Liam. How are you?"_

"Tired at the moment. Mom went into labor, we fought of some bad guys, and I helped deliver Connor into this world."

"_What?! Is everyone alright? How are Buffy and Connor?"_

"They're both being examined now. We're at the hospital. Grandpa, it would mean the world to mom if you showed up to see her and Connor."

"_I'm purchasing a plane ticket to America as we speak. I'll be there in several hours."_

"No need to rush grandpa. It looks like we'll be in LA for a few days and will probably deal with some more bad guys."

"_All the more reason I should come now and lend my experience."_

"Grandpa, I appreciate it. I do. But the less people are involved in this, the better. Besides we'll be staying in Sunnydale for a while after things die down here."

"_Alright then. I shall purchase a ticket and arrive in Sunnydale in the next day or two."_

"Great. Thanks Grandpa. Mom and I will be thrilled to see you."

"_I will be thrilled to see all of you when I arrive."_

"See you then." Liam hung up and put in some more quarters to call everyone in Sunnydale. He waited for about three rings before the phone was picked up.

"_Hello."_ He heard Willows voice on the line.

"Willow. It's Liam."

"_Oh. Hi Liam. How's Buffy and everyone else there?"_

"Willow, mom went into labor."

"_What?! She did? When?"_

"_What's going on?" _Liam heard Dawn's voice over the phone.

"_Buffy went into labor."_

"_What?! Has she had the baby yet?"_

"_Has she…."_

"Yes." Liam interrupted Willow knowing what she was going to say. "I helped deliver Connor in an alley. We're at the hospital now."

"_Is everyone alright?"_

"Yeah. We're just waiting around."

"_Do you want us to come down?"_

"Not yet. We might just come to you. It shouldn't be that long before they're done."

"_Ok. Just let us know if anything's changed."_

"You'll be my first call." Liam hung up the phone and sighed heavily. He placed one hand on the wall and leaned his head on the wall standing there. A hand wrapped around his free one. He looked and saw Delia standing behind him.

"You ok?" She asked.

"Just tired. And worried. A lot did just happen in a span of a few hours."

"Yeah. Especially with you delivering Connor." She smiled at him.

"Yeah, that took the cake." He smiled too.

"I never knew that you were good at delivering babies."

"I'm not." Liam chuckled.

"But it looked like you knew what you were doing." Liam looked at her for a minute.

"If I tell you something, do you promise to keep it a secret?" Delia nodded. "I never delivered a baby in my life until about a half hour ago."

"But how did you know what to do?"

"I watched a television program and remembered what the guy did to deliver the baby." Delia looked shocked and a little outraged.

"You mean you got all your knowledge…." She practically yelled until Liam shushed her. "You mean you got all your knowledge about delivering babies from a guy on a medical show?" She said more quietly.

"Actually it was a lawyer show and they didn't show the baby until it was out."

"You got all your knowledge about delivering babies from a PG lawyer show?"

"Pretty much." Liam said innocently. Delia looked away from Liam and placed a hand in her hair.

"You could have screwed everything up for your mother. What would have happened if something went wrong and you didn't know what to do?"

"Well then I guess that I'd be screwed." Delia hit Liam on the arm and several times on the chest.

"You could seriously have hurt Buffy or Connor."

"Well let's just hope I didn't." Liam said feeling his chest where Delia hit him.

"I'm actually a little surprised you didn't throw up."

"I swallowed it." Liam admitted. Delia just stared at him. Then she smiled and let out a few laughs. Liam smiled and laughed with her.

"You are just full of surprises."

"Hey, that's my line." Delia rolled her eyes. "Just don't tell mom. I'll never hear the end of it."

"You won't from me." Liam smiled and shook his head. The two of them turned and rejoined everyone else in the waiting room. Angel was still looking anxious and worried. Everyone else had the same expressions but were a little less stressed about it. Liam walked up to his father and gave him an encouraging smile. Angel smiled back but still looked worried. The doctor and a nurse carrying Connor came back out into the waiting room.

"I'm happy to report you have a healthy baby boy." The doctor told Angel. Angel felt a wave of relief flood over him. "Well, his height and weight are in the ninety percentile. We gave him his vitamin K and his PKU and he's doing very well. We don't seem to have his - what's his name?"

"Connor." Angel said. "His name is Connor."

"Connor. Thank you. Mr. Summers." The nurse handed the baby to Angel. "And congratulations."

"Thanks." Angel smiled down at Connor, then looked back at the doctor. "What about Buffy? His mother?"

"She's going to be fine. Whoever helped her give birth seemed to know exactly what they were doing." Liam coughed. Delia smiled at him. No one seemed to have noticed. "You can go see her now, but only one or two at a time. She is still weak and she needs her rest. She's in room 115, just down the hall."

"Thank you." The doctor nodded and left them. Angel looked to Liam. "I think Liam and I should go."

"That might be appropriate." Wes said. Angel and Liam both made their way down the hall to Buffy's room. They opened the door and saw Buffy lying on the bed with her head turned. There was an IV coming from her arm and leading to a bag that hung over her bed. Next to the bed was a heart monitor that had a steady beep. There was a chair next to the machine that Angel pulled up in front of Buffy and sat down in. Liam stood next to him looking at his mother. The mere sight of her in bed hooked up to machines brought sadness to both of them. It didn't matter that they knew that Buffy would live. It still hurt them to see her in a hospital bed. Buffy turned her head and looked at her men before her.

"Angel?" she said in a horsed tone.

"I'm here Buffy." Angel said. "We're all here."

"Mom." Liam said and moved to her other side, kneeling down to her.

"My son." Buffy said smiling at him. "I have two sons now."

"One's probably wanting to be held by you." Buffy looked at her newborn in Angel's arms. Angel bent down and gave Connor to Buffy. Buffy held him in her arms and smiled wider than either man had seen her smile.

"I have a beautiful son that looks like his daddy with his mommy's hair." Angel smiled as the tears turned from that of distress into ones of joy. Buffy smiled at him and cried with him. He stroked her face and pushed the hair that had fallen there away. This was the woman he loved and if he had lost her or Connor today, he probably would have had his heart cut out. Liam had silent tears for seeing the sight in front of him. His parents were alive and now, so was his big brother. "I have my beautiful son. And it wouldn't have happened had it not been for my other son." Buffy looked to Liam with a smile and tears. Angel looked too with a smile. "Thank you. We owe you everything."

"No you don't." Liam said smiling and shaking his head.

"We do." Angel said. "Without you, this would never have happened." Liam smiled at his parents.

"I just want what's best for you all." Buffy cried some more happy tears and beckoned Liam to give her a hug. Liam leaned down and hugged his mother and his brother. Angel then joined in on the hugging. This moment was perfect for all of them. The only thing that could make it better was if Kathy were there with them. Angel pulled out of the hug and Liam kissed his mother's forehead.

"Do you wanna hold him?" Buffy asked Liam. Liam nodded and Buffy gave Connor to Liam. Liam held Connor, taking great care to make the baby comfortable.

"Hey there big brother." Liam whispered to Connor. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise." Almost immediately after Liam said those words, Connor started to fuss and cry. "Oh, ok. I think he prefer his dad instead of a look alike." Liam handed Connor to Angel, but Liam still kept crying.

"What? It's me." Angel said to Connor. "It's ok Connor." Connor didn't let up.

"Here." Buffy said with an amused expression. Angel handed Connor to Buffy. Connor settled down but was still crying. "Shh. It's ok baby. Mommy's here." Connor began to quiet down and soon fell back to sleep. Liam looked to his mother who looked at him. They had the same smiling expression. Angle smiled too at the sight before him. He had his family. He had a family for the first time in two hundred years. Everyone was happy.

…

Two days later, Buffy was released from the hospital. No one had left the hospital since they first brought Buffy in. They wanted to be there for her after everything they went through. Buffy was grateful for them. Buffy, Angel, Liam, and Delia planned on taking Connor and bringing him to Sunnydale to see the rest of the family. Liam had called the gang and told them not to bother coming to LA to see Buffy because they would just be going back to Sunnydale anyway. And he hinted that they could throw some sorta party for Buffy and Connor.

The A.I. team had walked into the lobby of the Hyperion.

"We need to make some little changes for safety. Covers for the outlets, kid proof the locks on the weapons cabinet." Cordy said. Then she saw the blood spattered equipment that was all that remained of the fight between the Grapplar demons and Wolfram and Hart's swat team. They all saw this and remembered that they hadn't been back to the Hotel to clean up.

"Right after we gut and remodel the entire hotel." Buffy said. She was holding Connor protectively in her arms. Angel was at her side.

"We should be careful. Whatever was in those cages could still be loose." Fred said indicating to the two cages that had the labels: Baby and Mother. Gunn and Angel exchange a look. "Oh."

"There's blood over here." Gunn said.

"Not to mention some bastard blown a gaping hole in the lift." Wes said looking at the hole in the elevator.

"Sorry. My bastard." Liam said.

"Oh. Well - not like we ever use it." Wes said. They all heard the front door open and someone walked in. Angel huddled protectively around Buffy and Connor. Gunn hefted his ax, Delia unsheathed her sword, Liam took off his coat to be ready to morph, and Wes aimed a crossbow at the person coming in through the doors. Lorne recoiled at all seeing the grim expressions at the weaponry aimed at him.

"Now is that anyway to welcome a houseguest?" Lorne asked looking offended. Everyone lowered their weapons.

"Houseguest?" Gunn asked.

"Well, I figured since you all managed to destroy my club - twice - that I wouldn't be imposing if I hit you up for a place to stay." He looked around and saw the mess in the lobby. "On second thought, maybe I should reconsider that standing offer I have from a marginally attractive Mulix demon."

"Well, if he/she/it has more suitable accommodations..." Wes said.

"Nonsense." Delia said sheathing her sword and walking over to Lorne. "Lorne, you are more than welcome to live in this hotel."

"Yeah, sure." Liam agreed. "We could use a phone guy. And you could be a good babysitter for when Connor's in town."

"That sounds alright to me." Lorne said and walked towards Angel and Buffy, holding out his hands. "Ah, come on, hand over the little nipper. Let Uncle Lorne have a gander." Angel curled tighter around Buffy who curled around Connor. "Oh, come on, I'm sure everyone else's already had their turn!" Lorne put a hand on Angel's arm, but Angel shook it off. Buffy backed away a bit. "Wow. I'm sensing a serious 'mama bear' vibe from the both of you."

"Yeah, we're all still waiting our turn." Cordy said. "And it's been two days."

"I get it. Lookee don't touchee? - I see he's got himself a little scratch..." Lorne reached towards the baby's left cheek, but Buffy pushed his hand away.

"We know." She said. "The doctors already treated it."

"I'm gonna kill Wolfram and Hart for that." Angel said menacingly. Connor began to cry. "Oh no no no no. I didn't mean it."

"Now look at what you did." Buffy said. Liam and Delia smiled at the sight. Cordy walked off to sit down on the steps leading into the lobby from the door to the garden court. Gunn picked up a cleaver-like instrument laying on top of one of the cage and looks at it.

"I don't even wanna know." He said.

"You think you could throw it?" Fred asked.

"I guess. Why?"

"There!" Fred pointed past him. Gunn turned and saw a demon leaping over the railing outside the glass garden court doors. Cordy jumped up with a scream as the demon came charging in. Delia unsheathed her sword ready for the fight.

"Bogie at the back door!" Gunn said throwing the cleaver. Angel wrapped himself protectively around Buffy who wrapped herself around Connor, both of them shielding him. The demon, scimitar raised above its head, fell backwards onto the steps, the cleaver buried in his chest and one of Wes' crossbow bolts in its neck.

"This isn't over, is it?"

"No. Connor's part of that prophecy." Liam said. "Everyone and everything will be coming for him."

"Which means we need a plan." Gunn said.

"Ah-ha!" Angel said. Everyone turned to look at him. "I think we figured it out." He pulled a diaper out of his coat pocket.

"He wet himself." Buffy said. Liam sighed. Delia rolled her eyes.

…

Wes walked into his office later that night. Buffy and Angel had Connor on his desk and they were changing his diaper.

"Angel, we could use your help when you're finished - changing the baby - who is being changed on my desk." Wes said.

"Sorry. We needed the space." Angel said.

"Of course. And seeing as you once nearly had sex on my desk I shouldn't be surprised that now there is a baby on it."

"What?" Buffy said looking horrified.

"Hey! First of all that wasn't me, that was some guy who switched bodies with me." Angel defended himself. "And second of all," Angel cupped his hands around the Connor's ears, and drops his voice to a whisper. "can we keep th talk away from him?" Wes stepped closer and picked up the pack of diapers.

"Do you need help?" Wes offered.

"Ah, no, Wes. I know how to change a diaper - a normal one with pins. It's these newfangled fasteners."

"Here, let me." Buffy said and moved to fasten Connor's diaper.

"Did you know these diapers are lined with a space-age material originally designed for NASA astronauts?" Wes said. "Hmm, interesting. Though now I'm picturing grown men in nappies and am rather disturbed."

"There. You're already aren't you?" Buffy cooed to Connor. Buffy wrapped back in his blanket and Angel dropped the bundled up, used diaper into Wes' hand. Wes looked down at it. Buffy picked up Connor. Angel looked at Wes.

"Right. How's the list coming along?" Angel asked. They all moved out into the lobby where the others were waiting in front of a dry erase board. Wes dropped the diaper on the counter top as he walked past.

"We've divided it into two categories." Wes informed them.

"Column one groups or individuals that we know pose 'a threat Connor:'" Liam said. "Holtz, Wolfram & Hart, the vampire cult that attacked us at the hospital."

"Column two those you 'could' pose a threat once they get wind of the baby." Delia said.

"Order of Phillius, Beltar the Cremator, - Frank?" Angel said reading the list.

"Who's that?" Buffy asked.

"Local mobster, specializes in kidnapping." Gunn said.

"Ah."

"You don't have anything more solid than that?" Angel asked Liam.

"All I can tell you guys is that the biggest problem we have is Holtz and Wolfram and Hart." Liam said.

"And you failed to mention that Holtz would come to the 21st century." Buffy informed him.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you. But I need him alive for now."

"Why?" Angel asked.

"It's all part of the plan."

"What plan?" Buffy asked getting impatient.

"One that involves Connor being safe, Holtz dying, and taking out other potential threats to Connor's life in the process. If we take Holtz out now, I don't know what other evil might come. I need him alive so that I can take out the other bad guys with him." Buffy and Angel looked at each other. The rest of the A.I. team looked at each other as well. No one really said a word.

"Ok, this plan of your?" Cordy sad breaking the silence. "What is it exactly?"

"If I tell you now, you guys might go off and do your own thing. I can't take that risk."

"But Liam, you can trust us." Buffy said. "We'll follow all of your orders, we'll…."

"No." Liam said standing up. "I can't take that risk. Not when it comes to Connor." Liam just stood staring at his parents and his now baby brother. "You're just gonna have to trust me. I know I've done questionable things in the past. But they've all been to saving the future and you guys. Please, just let this go." Buffy didn't say anything. She just stared at her adult so who had kept secrets from her since he arrived and wanted to keep more secrets. He was begging for her to trust him to keep her new born safe all on his lonesome.

"Will you tell us, when the time comes?" Buffy asked. Liam hesitated before answering.

"Yes." Buffy nodded at his answer.

"Ok then. I trust you." Liam smiled. Connor began to cry. "What, what, what? What is it? You can't be wet again. I just changed you.

"Ah-hmm, maybe he's hungry?" Angel said. "I got a bottle all ready for you." Angel walked over to counter and looked around. "Where did I put his bottle? I had a bottle all ready for him!" Cordy hurried over, picked up the bottle, and handed it to him. "Okay." Buffy was bouncing Connor up and down to try and calm him. "Here's your babba." Angel said holding the bottle up to Connor. Connor just cried. "Take your babba. You just take it like this" Angel lifted the bottle and made sucking noises. "and you drink, and you're happy." Connor continued to cry.

"I don't think he's hungry." Buffy said.

"Mind if I suggest something?" Liam asked.

"No." Both of his parents said in unison. Liam held up his hands in surrender. Gunn came over.

"Angel, why don't you let me take him for a little while. I helped raise my cousin since she was about a week old." Gunn said.

"We can handle it." Angel said. Both he and Buffy walked away from Gunn. "Alright, so we got a list. All we have to do is erase everyone on it."

"I can do that for you." Fred said picking up a dry eraser.

"Ah, Fred..." Cordy said.

"What?" Fred stopped erasing and turned to look at Cordy. "Oh, you meant erase in a squish and kill violent kind of way. I'll just put that back."

…

Angel decided to give Buffy a break from a crying Connor and was pacing and holding him, holding the bottle. Buffy was sitting down massaging her head. She had no idea how hard it would be to quite down a crying baby. She never had to do it before. Angel wasn't doing any better.

"Come on, it's a nice babba." Angel said. "You wanna stop crying and take your babba, yes you do - please?" Cordy was at her laptop searching the database 'Demons Demons Demons'.

"What about that ninja guy that attacked us at the hospital?" Gunn asked.

"The vampire cult killed him before he could get to the baby." Wes said.

"There could be more of them." Fred suggested

"The world is a sick and demented place. You know there are already three websites offering money for the baby?" Cordy said. Fred added 'Ninja guys' to the column of known threats.

"Fred, help them trace the websites." Liam said.

"Right." Fred said.

"It's good. Try it. You'll like it. Mmmm, so good." Angel said to Connor. He was still trying to get Connor to take the bottle.

"If I could just…." Liam began.

"I got it." Connor kept crying.

"Ugh, can he please stop crying already." Buffy moaned.

"Baby's cry." Delia said.

"I know but he won't stop. How much crying does this baby have in him?" Buffy leaned back on the settee. Fred took Cordy's place in front of the laptop. Angel picked up a stuffed Teddy and pretended to feed it the bottle.

"See? Ha. Teddy likes it. And I like it, too." Angel said. Angel opened his mouth and shook some of the milk from the bottle into it. "See? Mmmm." He smiled at Connor, then turned his head away, making a face and spitting out the milk. A blue flash lit up the hotel and everyone looked around.

"What was that?" Fred asked.

"Oh, just listening to those Furies gives me whiplash!" Lorne said walking in. "Thank god they finally left. My head was about to pop off. Which, granted, not that big a deal."

"That flash was their spell kicking in?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"Yeah, they put a force field over the entire hotel. No one or thing can get in or out."

"So, Connor's safe? We're all safe. Right, Lorne? I-I mean unless one of those killers decides to throw in a fire bomb in at us like they did at your club, which had a similar safety spell around it as I recall. - Sorry."

"She's right. He won't be safe here for long." Liam said.

"Well, we can get out if we have to. I installed an emergency exit down in the sewers. A-a mystical barrier, opens and closes with a password. Pylean word for hedgehog." He said to Fred.

"Oh. - Oh!" Fred said and started to laugh.

"I'm guessing it means something very different in English?" Gunn asked

"Hey, are there any fluorescent lights in here?" Lorne asked. "I keep hearing this hum. Plus, fluorescent - green light, green skin - it's all bad. - I'll take the blank stares as a big fat no." Liam was looking at the weapons cabinet.

"Gunn?" Liam said.

"Yeah." Gunn replied.

"We're in a war here. I'm gonna need some serious firepower."

"You mean something beyond swords and spears?"

"Way beyond."

"I know some guys. Leave it to me."

"Thanks. We get into the websites?"

"Not yet. Normally all we would have to do is hack into the e-mail and track the relays but - they're using re-mailers." Fred said.

"Which means?" Angel asked.

"Which means there is no direct id, it's going to take a little time..." Cordy said.

"We don't have a little time. Are those all the names up there on the board?" Liam asked.

"Shouldn't you know all this?" Cordy asked.

"I know some. I don't know all. Changing the past with future knowledge is tricky business. Even if I take one group out, how will I know that the others won't just step up and do something else? I gotta make sure that everyone on that list is taken out."

"Working on some other leads." Wes said. "We all want the same thing, Liam. We're doing the best we can."

"Do better."

"Liam!"

"I promised him that no one is gonna put their hands on him. No one."

"Let us know if you need any help." Angel said. He and Buffy left to gang in the lobby and went up the stairs.

"I may not need it." Liam muttered.

…

Angel was trying to distract Connor from crying with the teddy bear.

"Teddy isn't crying. Do you see Teddy cry? Teddy isn't crying. Do you see Teddy crying? No, Teddy isn't crying." Angel cooed. Connor kept crying and Angel leaned his head into the Teddy with a sigh.

"I don't think he likes that bear." Buffy said. She was getting frustrated. Connor hadn't stopped crying and she was at her wits end.

"Come on, kid, you gotta give me something here." Angel leaned his head against the side of the cradle in defeat as the crying never even slowed. Lorne walked into the room and saw the frustrated and tired papers.

"Here let me give it a try." Lorne said and began to sing. _"Ooh, ooh, baby, baby. Ooh, ooh, baby, baby. Mistakes I know I made a few, but I'm only human. You'll make mistakes, too. And I'm crying..._" Connor didn't stop crying. "He doesn't like Smokey Robinson and the Miracles? I thought you said this kid had a soul." Buffy got up from the bed and leaned over the cradle.

"You know what, you're fed, you're changed. I hold you, you cry. I put you down, you cry. What do you want us to do here?" Connor cried. Liam and Delia walked into the room. "I'm a terrible mother. I can't even get him to stop crying."

"I can't either." Angel said as he picked Connor up.

"Yeah, well, it's getting a little tense - your vibe, that is." Lorne said.

"My vibe? What vibe?"

"Both of yours actually. Just the incredibly anxious ones that's been coming of you in waves ever since he was born. He's deeply connected to you two. If you're both wound this tight, how do you think he's gonna feel?"

"Hey, he's not even a day old and he's got an enemies list." Liam said. "How would you feel? Wouldn't you be a little edgy?"

"Yeah. I'd also be in awe. Look at him." Liam looked down at the screaming baby. "He's more than a mission, bro. 'Look' at him. Look at him." Lorne turned and walked out of the room.

"It's all right." Angel said as he sat down in a chair. "It's gonna be alright. It's gonna be all right." Connor continued to scream. "Hey. Shh."

"If I could just interject…." Liam said.

"We got this." Buffy said. "We are his parents. We will take care of him. You stop whatever evil's coming for him." Buffy turned back to Angel and Connor. Liam turned to Delia.

"How long do you think it's gonna be before they finally ask you for advice?" Delia asked.

"Five minutes." Liam said. "Give or take."

"Well I hope its five seconds. That screaming is gonna drive me insane."

"Well, if he doesn't stop in five minutes, I'll make him stop."

"You better." Buffy walked behind Angel who was holding Connor.

"Hey there baby." She cooed and made a face and silly noises. "Do you like that?" Connor continued to scream.

"Well, obviously." Angel said. "Okay. How about this one?" Angel pulled on his ears, making another face and silly noises. More screaming. "Okay. I only got one more in me." Angel sighed and morphed into vamp-face.

"Angel! He's too young for that!" Buffy chastised. Connor looked up at Angel and he stopped crying. After a moment, his eyes started drooping. Big smiles spread across over both Buffy and Angel's face.

"Yeah, that's my little guy! You like that, don't you? A bootchee-wootchee..."

"Oh thank you God." Buffy said in relief.

"Can I say something now?" Liam asked.

"Yes. What is it?"

"Sleepsong." Liam said and left with Delia. Both Buffy and Angel looked at him as he left. Their smiles gone and both of them feeling really stupid right now. _Sleepsong_ was the sing that Liam told them got him and Kathy to sleep. Buffy played that song the whole time she was pregnant. After all that time, she had forgotten that it might get her children to sleep.

"Why didn't you remember that?" Angel asked. "You played it like every day when you were pregnant."

"Me? What about you? You started singing it all the time." Connor woke up and started crying again. Both of the parents sighed.

…

The next day, Fred was hunched over the laptop as Cordy brought over two cups and set one down beside her.

"Thanks." Fred said. Fred looked up and saw Angel and Buffy coming down the stairs carrying their son. "Oh-oh, we still haven't traced the websites."

"Relax." Cordy said patting her on the back, then she walked over to meet the parents. "Get any sleep?"

"Nah, we were up all night watching him." Angel said never taking his eyes off Connor.

"You know, if you'd let us take shifts we could..."

"No, we weren't watching him like that – we were just - watching him." Buffy said. Cordy smiled. "He - looks a little bit like Angel, don't you think? But with my eyes and hair. You sure this isn't you Liam?" Liam was over by the counter on the phone. He was talking to Willow and the gang in Sunnydale.

"Oh, yeah sure. Whatever." Liam said. He wasn't paying attention. "Ok, so everything's prepared...Great. We'll be there as soon as possible." He hung up the phone and turned to everyone. "Ok, the Scooby gang is waiting for us and growing impatient. Apparently, they want to see the new member of our team."

"Well, they're just gonna have to wait." Buffy said.

"Here, why don't you hand him over for a while, catch some shut eye." Cordy offered.

"No. I'll sleep - when I know he's safe."

"Same goes for me." Angel said.

"But when will he be safe? Around never?" Cordy asked. "Guys, I understand you both wanna protect him - but you gotta let go a little. Share part of the responsibility. You can't be everything for him."

"We are sharing the responsibility. Liam's risking everything just to save him."

"And not just me. Del too." Liam said walking over. "We know what to do. And I will do everything in my power to save my family."

"And I will help." Delia said coming into the room and standing next to her husband. "Liam's family is my family. And I don't like seeing anything happen to poor defenseless children."

"Thank you." Buffy said and smiled at her second son and her daughter-in-law.

"Good morning all." Lorne said coming down the steps and draped one arm over Angel's shoulder as he looked down at the baby in Buffy's arms. "You got to figure a guy like you, a place like this, the only truly safe room would be the janitor's closet." Angel looked down at his shirt pocket then walked away from Lorne.

"Thanks for the tip." Angel said.

"Were you able to sleep, Lorne, or did you still hear that humming?" Fred asked.

"Oh, I got some earplugs." Lorne said. "Put them in and slept like a baby. Cried and wet the bed all night." He was the only one laughing. "Tough room."

Gunn walked into the hotel

"Mission accomplished." Gunn said and dropped a duffel on a chair and unzipped it. Liam came over and looked into the bag. "You said you wanted fire power, so..."

"Good work." Liam said. Delia came over and peered over Liam's shoulder to look in the bag.

"Ooo. Anything special you have planned?" Delia asked.

"Better believe it."

"Also we got company out front." Gunn said.

"Did they see you?" Delia asked.

"Nah. I saw them, kept on going, doubled back and came in through the sewer."

"Who are they?" Buffy asked sounding worried.

"Well, two blacked out cars of what I'm betting is more vampire cult. And a biker gang I recognize from back in the day."

"Humans?" Angel asked.

"Yeah. Into extortion and kidnapping. There are also some funky fellows in a van I didn't recognize, wearing hooded cloaks."

"Lilliad demons." Wes said joining them. "Their fun is making a magical broth from the bones of human children." He looked to Cordy who was about to add them to the white board. "That's two 'L's' in the middle. They probably want to find out how the child born of a vampire effects the recipe. They use strong magic. They may be able to break the furies spell."

"What are they waiting for?" Angel asked.

"Night. Their power is linked directly to the lunar cycle."

"So, we're safe for now, but when the moon rises..." Cordy said.

"And tonight's a full moon." Fred informed them.

"No matter what kind of weapons we have, we're not gonna be able to fight off the whole world, once that force field comes down." Gunn said.

"I don't see that we have a choice." Wes said.

"Hmm. Us against the world." Liam said thoughtfully.

"I like these odds." Delia said smiling.

…

Figures in purple hooded cloaks were chanting in front of the Hyperion. Gunn turned away from the first story window and walked over to the stairs leading down into the lobby.

"Guys, the Lilliad demons are starting their mojo on the force field." He informed them. Gunn resumed his post at the window as Wes and Fred picked up crossbows. Gunn saw a car pull up and men jump out. "Ah, right, sun's down, vamps can come out, too. - Wait, they're headed towards the bikers."

"What are they doing?" Fred asked.

"They, ah, having a brawl over who gets to kill us first." Gunn said walking down the stairs.

"We have to hold our ground." Wes said.

"What if we can't?" Cordy asked.

"If we're forced to fall back we'll do so towards the cellar. We can make a retreat through the sewer." Wes picked up a flame-thrower. Angel and Buffy were standing on the stairs. Buffy was holding Connor in her arms humming _Sleepsong_. She was mostly doing it to calm herself down.

"This isn't going to work." Angel said.

"I checked it. It's primed and ready." Wes referred to the flamethrower

"Not the weapon, he means the plan." Liam said finishing packing a duffle bag.

"I'm so glad somebody finally said that, because sitting here waiting to die never was much of a plan." Lorne said. "Sorry. So, what kind of genius idea you got hidden up that well-tailored sleeve of yours, huh?"

"Plan is we go. Take Connor somewhere safe."

"What?" Cordy said in surprise.

"I like that plan." Buffy said.

"He was born in a siege, he's not gonna die in one." Angel said.

"But if you stay and help us fight... You said it yourself: we're in a war." Wes tried to argue. "And now you're just retreating."

"Never. We're simply advancing in a new direction." Liam slung the duffle bag over his shoulder. "How are you feeling?" Liam asked Buffy.

"I haven't been able to rest properly since Connor was born. I just want this to be over." Buffy informed him.

"It will be. Well make our way into the sewers and sneak past them."

"What happened to taking them out?" Wes asked.

"There's too many of them to take them out here. We go through the sewers. With any luck we'll get a couple miles before anyone notices that we're gone."

"So you're just gonna leave? Run away?" Cordy asked.

"No, you're gonna be all right. Once they break the spell and storm the place they'll realize that the baby's gone and they'll come after us. Wesley, stall them if you can." Liam and his family made their way to the cellar but Cordy stepped in his path.

"I'm sure tripping over our dead bodies will slow them down."

"Cordy look, we have to go." Angel said. "There is a major difference between you guys and Connor."

"Not family right." Cordy scoffed. "Not immediate anyway."

"No. He can't defend himself. You guys can." Buffy clarified. "And I know from working with you that you'll survive." The family moved past her and made their way to the sewers, led by Liam.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Angel said as they walked.

"Me too." Liam replied.

…

Liam climbed up a ladder in the sewers. He pushed the round metal lid covering the manhole aside and came up in the street beside Delia's motorcycle and Angel's car. He glanced around the street, then beckoned for his family to come up. Buffy came up first with Connor in her arms. Then Angel came up with the duffel bag. A man in a Hum-vees watched them through night-vision binoculars.

"Got them." He said on the radio.

"Ok, so we know the plan?" Liam asked his parents.

"We take Connor, get out of town." Angel said.

"And since no one knows which Connor is real, they won't know which one to truly follow." Buffy said.

"Exactly." Liam said opening up the duffle bag and carefully taking a bundled up blanket out. "Hey Connor, we're going for a ride." Liam looked to his parents who concerned expressions on their faces. "We'll meet up at the rendezvous point." Buffy and Angel nodded and got into Angel's car. Liam hoped on to Delia's motorcycle, carefully holding Connor.

"They appear to have a decoy baby." The guy said on the radio. "Unknown which is real."

"_Then get me both."_ Linwood's voice was heard over the radio.

"Roger that." Angel's car pulled out into the road with Liam right behind them. The man, lowered the binoculars. "Have a visual. Let's go." The Hum-vees followed family. Two demons and men broke free from the fight at the front doors of the Hyperion and walked inside. The Demons take down their hoods.

"Where is the child?" the Lillad said.

"Upstairs, room three-one-two, why don't you go and get him? Oh, wait. I have a better idea." Wes said aiming the flame-thrower and firing. Outside the fight continued. A vampire looked up from the fighting as Angel's car and Liam on a motorcycle drove by. He knocked down another opponent, then saw the Hum-vees in pursuit. The vampire hurried inside the hotel.

"Master, it's a trick! He's taken the child." The vamp said. The vampire looked down at the charred and still smoking remains of a Lilliad demon. He looked at Wes who gave him a shrug before torching him with a burst of flame. Outside the remaining fighters hurried to their vehicles to pursue Angel.

"Now they're all after them." Cordy said lowering her weapon.

"Hopefully we stalled them long enough." Wes said.

"Whatever." Gunn said sitting down. "Running away was his call."

…

Angel's car fishtailed around a corner. Liam came around right behind him. The Hum-vees, the bikers, the cars of the vampire cult and the van of the Lilliad demons were in hot pursuit. A Hum-vee pulled out of another street to cut him off and Angel wrenched the car aside to turn into another street. Liam turned in the other direction and went down a different street. One hum-vee followed Liam while the other Hum-vee and the demons followed Angel. Angel was driving through a tunnel, down a highway and past a sign reading Lancaster 16 and Mojave Dessert 42. Angel checked on his pursuers in the side mirror.

"How far are they behind us?" Buffy asked looking surprisingly calm and looking down at the baby she was holding in her arms.

"Not far enough." Angel answered. "We'll get through this, I promise. The vampire/demon/biker posse, that's the easy part." The Hum-vee following rammed his car from behind. "The part that scares me - is all the questions he'll ask. Why is the sky blue? Why do people get sick? Why is there always pigs' blood in the fridge? I don't have all the answers. Well, I do to that last one."

"Angel, just drive and worry about his kidnappers." The Hum-vee rammed him again. They drove by a 'Danger Abandoned Mine No Trespassing' sign.

"Here we go." Angel suddenly turned the car and drove through a latched wooden gate. Angel drove past an abandoned shack and through the boards closing off the entrance of the mine. Outside the other vehicles pulled up in front of the mine entrance. Angel and Buffy descended into the main mine shaft. Outside the three parties resumed their fight against each other even as they all made their way towards the entrance of the mine. The parents came up against a tunnel entrance nailed shut with boards. As the first pursuers descended into the pit of the main shaft, they ran over to another tunnel mouth and found it blocked by and iron grate. Angel and Buffy turned to face their pursuers.

"Could be worse." Buffy said looking at the bundle in her arms. "At least you're not crying." Angel looked around and grabbed a hold of a rope trailing down from the ceiling. He beckoned Buffy to come over and she did. He held on to her.

"Give us the baby!" The Lillad said.

"You want the baby?" Angel asked. "You can have the baby." Buffy tossed the wrapped baby in a high arc into the middle of the group. They all scrambled for it, while Angel quickly rode the rope up to the top of the shaft, carrying Buffy. She let out a playful holler as they rode. One of the vampires had a hold of the baby and unwrapped the blanket to get a look at it. The vampire stared down at Teddy, a bomb with the timer almost to zero strapped to its chest.

"What is it?" a man asked.

"It's a..." the vampire never finished as the bomb blew up, sending a fireball rolling out of the mineshaft, its fire casting a red glow over the taillights of Angel's escaping car as he screeched down the road. Buffy looked back at the explosion and let out a sigh of relief.

"Is it over?" she asked hopefully.

"For now maybe." Angel said. "I just hope that Liam's ok."

…

Liam rode fast down the streets of LA. The baby he had was in a protective sling around his body while both if his hand rode the motorcycle. Two Hum-vees were in hot pursuit of him. Liam looked back in his rear view mirror and sped up. The Hum-vees sped up two. Liam turned down a road and stopped in front of an old building. He got off the bike and ducked inside. The hum-vees stopped and about ten men with guns got out.

"Secure the perimeter." The leader said. "No one in or out. Shoot anything that moves but be careful of the Precious Cargo. You two stay out here." Two men stood by the Hum-vees as the rest of the team went into the building. The team went inside and looked around the room with their rifles ready and night vision goggles on. They stopped when they heard a babies cry. "We hear the target." They team moved to the source of the cries. They went up the stairs to the next level and checked a room. They crying started to get louder. They moved around the room and came upon dresser. The cries seemed to be coming from behind it. Two soldiers moved the dresser of the way and they saw the bundle. The cries were coming from it. The leader picked up the baby and unwrapped it, revealing a plastic baby and explosives strapped to it. "Shit."

The level of the building that the team was in exploded. Liam looked up as he smoked a cigar and put on his coat. He walked over to his motorcycle, stepping over the two dead bodies of the ops team. He revved up the bike and rode off smirking.

…

Liam's charger pulled up in front of the Summers house and the engine was turned off. Delia stepped out of the car with the real Connor in her arms. He was sleeping peacefully. The plan worked perfectly. Delia used the Janitors closet to get herself and Connor out of the hotel as Liam and his family worked on taking out the demons wanting Connor. She looked down at the sleeping baby and smiled. Delia walked up to the door and gently knocked on it. It opened to reveal Willow.

"Hi Willow." Delia said. "Happy Aunt Day." She said holding up Connor. Willow had a huge smiled grow on her face.

"Oh my god." She said. "He's so cute."

"Yes he is. When he isn't screaming his head off." Delia stepped inside to be met by the rest of the Scooby gang and Giles.

"Let me see! Let me see!" Dawn said excitedly as she came up next to Delia and looked at Connor. "Oohhh! He's beautiful."

"A remarkable child." Giles said smiling and looking at the baby.

"Yep. Look at that." Xander said. "Six pounds of crying and puking right there." He joked. Both Dawn and Anya smacked Xander's chest. "Ow!" he held the spots where he was hit.

"Xander. I want one someday." Anya said.

"So do I." Dawn said.

"You're not thinking right now…." Spike asked Faith.

"Not now. But someday." Faith responded. Spike smiled and wrapped an arm around her. They both looked at Connor.

"Well Connor's here." Tara said. "Where are Buffy, Liam, and Angel?"

"Taking care of some loose ends." Delia responded.

…

At Wolfram and Hart, Linwood was re-watching the encounter between Lorne and Angel that morning.

_"Ah, good morning all. Is that bacon I smell or did somebody fall asleep with the curtains open? You got to figure, a guy like you, a place like this the only truly safe..." _

"Back it up." Linwood said. The video backed up then began to play again.

_"...fall asleep with the curtains open. You got to figure, a guy like you..."_

"Stop it right there!" The tape stopped. "Magnify one hundred times." The picture zoomed in. "Again." The whole screen was now filled with Lorne's hand slipping a half-concealed piece of paper into the breast pocket of Angel's shirt. "There. That is when he gives Angel the note."

_"The only truly safe room would be the janitor's closet."_

_"Thanks for the tip."_

"And tells him where to read it. The janitor's closet, where we don't have surveillance."

"That green houseguest could hear the hum of your transmit frequency. What are the odds?" Lilah said to Gavin.

"All that Sturm and Drang about Angel and his duplicate running out on them? Just a performance." Linwood said.

"He did a good job. Who knew the Angel's had the acting chops?"

"Are you kidding?" Gavin asked. "It was one note. Felt forced."

"Funny. You bought it at the time."

"It worked - for us. Angel's little trick thinned the herd. And what about Holtz?" Linwood asked.

"No reports yet that he was among Angel's pursuers." Gavin informed him.

"I was hoping he'd be among the casualties. What do we know about him?"

"He is a vampire hunter." Lilah said opening a folder. "Angel killed his family and he spent the rest of his life seeking revenge. Oh, and one more thing, this all happened two hundred years ago."

"I thought Holtz was human."

"He is."

"I time traveler."

"His arrival was foretold in the Nyazian Scrolls. He is a player." Gavin said.

"Yeah. He's a cog in the machine, and aren't we all. - What do you suppose it is that he wants?"

"You mean other than to tear out Angel's heart and wearing it as a broach?" Lilah asked.

"We need more information. How he got here, who he works with, where he lives. What do we know about there being two Angels?"

"Nothing." Gavin said. "And that's putting it mildly. We went through every one of our resources to understand this new development. But we have found nothing."

"Nothing? Are you sure."

"Positive, sir." Lilah said. "The only thing we do know is that he is apparently human and he goes by the name 'Liam.' A wussy name." she added.

"When Angel was human, his name was Liam." Gavin said.

"You think this one maybe a time traveler too?" Linwood asked.

"Maybe." Lilah said. "If he is, they might be in a predicament."

"How so?"

"If human Angel from the past is in the present, it would only be a matter of time before vampire Angel disappeared because human Angel wasn't in the past to be sired and kill half of Europe."

"Could be a clone." Gavin offered.

"Whatever he is, we need to find out." Linwood said. "An 18th century vampire hunter in the 21 century, Angel and a slayer having a baby, two Angels at the same time. This is getting out of hand. We need to know everything there is about all of them before the Senior Partners start shifting blame and taking us all out." The alarm sounded. "I hope that's not who I think it is." Angel walks into the office, followed by Buffy and Liam. Angel walked up to Linwood, sliced him across the cheek, and pushes him facedown against the table. Liam raised his hands and Lilah and Gavin were suspended in the air, gasping for it and holding their necks. Buffy strode up next to Angel and leaned on the desk over Linwood.

"I see you know my husband. As you know….I'm the slayer." Buffy greeted.

"My son has a tiny scratch on his cheek, and now, by extraordinary coincidence so do you." Angel said. "I'm holding you personally responsible for 'anything' that happens to him whether it's your fault or not. Cold, sunburn, scratched knee, whatever happens to him, happens to you, and then some." Angel pulled Linwood back up, pushed him back into his chair, and leaned over him.

"For not only are you not coming after him, you gonna make sure that he lives a long, healthy life." Buffy said. "You just became his godfather, understand?"

"I believe I do." Linwood said. "Just tell me one thing." Angel and Buffy glance at each other then back at Linwood. "How is it, that there are two of you?" he glanced at Liam who still held Gavin and Lilah in a levitated choke hold. He was wearing his glamour charm so he looked exactly like Angel. Liam smirked before dropping Gavin and Lilah to the ground. They gasped for air. Liam strode over to Linwood and his parents and looked at Linwood.

"That's for us to know, and for you to never find out." Liam said with a smirk. Guards came in in response to the alarm.

"Sir?" one of the guards said.

"It's all right." Linwood said. Angel got up and stood towering over Linwood.

"It was nice meeting you", Buffy said sweetly. The Summers started to leave but Angel turned back around before he reached the door.

"Oh, and one more thing: College fund?" he said. "Start saving. I got my heart set on Notre Dame."

"I was thinking Stanford."

"UCLA." Liam offered. The family left and Linwood pulled himself back upright in his chair. Lilah got to her feet, holding her neck and coughing. She pulled the handkerchief out of Gavin breast pocket and went to dab at the scratch on Linwood's cheek. Linwood grabbed the cloth from her and threw it down.

**Connor's born. Parents are protective. Brother's being a brother. Usually stuff. Like I said, I will work on my story over the next week and hopefully post it on Saturday. Depends on my work schedule.**


	15. Truth Will Out

Chapter 15: Truth Will Out

**Here it is. The new chapter. Little heads up, this episode is 'As You Were' but changed up because of Liam. The title says that there will be some truth coming out. Means Liam spills some secrets. Not a lot. But enough. Enjoy.**

Buffy burst through the door of her house, followed by Angel and Liam. The rest of the Scooby gang were in the living room. Delia stood up as the family entered, holding Connor in her arms.

"Where is he? Where's my baby?" Buffy asked frantically.

"It's alright Buffy. He's right here." Delia said. Buffy made her way to Delia and gave Connor to Buffy.

"Ohh. There there baby. Mommies here." Buffy cooed.

"Hope he wasn't too much trouble." Angel said taking his spot beside Buffy.

"He was just an angel." Willow said stepping forward and looking at Connor. "He's adorable."

"Can I hold him?" Dawn said excitedly.

"No." Buffy said.

"Why not?"

"Because he's my baby and after being away from him, I want to hold him." Buffy countered.

"That's also why we decided not to have the party we were going to throw you." Xander said.

"You were going to throw me a party?"

"That's why Giles is here." Faith said pointing to the watcher. Buffy finally saw Giles for the first time since she arrived and a huge smile spread across her face. Giles smiled too.

"Hello Buffy." Giles said.

"Giles." Buffy said and gave Connor to Angel before hugging her surrogate father. Tight.

"Buffy." Giles gasp as her hug was really tight and strong.

"Sorry." Buffy said loosening the hug. "When did you get here?"

"Yesterday. Liam called me and told me about your situation and I bought a ticket to come and see how you were doing." Buffy turned to Liam who was smiling at her.

"Figured you want family." He said with a shrug. Buffy went over to him and hugged him as well.

"Thank you."

"Any time mom."

"No." Buffy pulled out of the hug and looked at her son. "For everything." She had tears forming in her eyes. "Without you…." She trailed as she placed a hand over her mouth to compose herself. "Without you I would never be this happy as I am today."

"Yeah, cause you'd be sleepin with me." Spike said smirking. Faith hit him in the chest. "What? It's a joke."

"Made me laugh." Liam said laughing. Everyone else decide to join in.

"But thank you anyway." Buffy said to Liam. "Without you….none of this would be happening." Liam smiled and he and Buffy hugged again.

"I appreciate the love mom, but I think there is another son who needs it more now." Buffy pulled out of the hug and looked to Connor in Angels arms and smiled at him. She walked over to her baby boy and looked lovingly at him.

"He's gonna know only love from us."

"So what are you going to name him?" Anya asked.

"Connor." Angel said. "We already told you guys."

"Oh, well I meant to say what is his full name gonna be?"

"Rupert." Buffy said and looked to Giles. "After his grandfather. Liam Rupert Summers."

"I'm honored Buffy." Giles said. "Thank you."

"Uh….mom." Liam said. Buffy looked towards her other son. "Don't mean to impose and everything, but you can't name him Rupert."

"Why not?" Buffy asked curiously. "You think it isn't a good name?"

"No. It is…But it's my middle name."

"Oh….Liam I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"It's ok. If you want you can name him Rupert and you and dad can name me something else."

"No. That's your name. Connor will have a different middle name. If that's ok Giles." She looked to her watcher.

"Of course it is Buffy." Giles said. "I am still honored that you named one of your sons after me." Buffy and Giles smiled at each other.

"I'm pretty sure if we ask Wesley, he'll want his name to be Connor's middle name." Angel said jokingly.

"That's my other middle name." Liam said. Everyone turned to him now.

"Geez, keep shooting down ideas there man." Xander said.

"Well, when Kathy and I were born, mom gave me a first and middle name. Dad gave Kathy a first and middle name. Then you two switched and gave the other anther middle name."

"So you're Liam Rupert Wesley Summers." Tara said. Liam nodded.

"What a bollocks of a name." Spike commented. Faith hit him again.

"And Kathy?" Dawn asked.

"Katherine Cordelia Joyce Summers." Liam said. Everyone stared at Liam.

"Cordelia?" Xander said. "Buffy named her daughter after the Cordelia? The girl who we all kinda hated."

"The girl you dated." Liam countered. Xander looked sheepish. "Dad named her because of his experiences with Cordelia. She isn't like she was in high school, so I'm told."

"Well that'd true." Buffy said. "But it still doesn't help with Connor's name."

"How 'bout Spike." Spike suggested.

"We are not naming him after you." Angel said.

"How about….Angel." Buffy said. Everyone looked to her. "I think he should be named after his father." She smiled. Angel smiled too and looked down at Connor.

"Buffy" Angel said looking at Connor. "Look. He's smiling." Instantly, all the girls in the room moved to stand over and watch the baby smile. "I think he likes his name."

"Oh, he's so cute." Tara said.

"He probably has gas." Anya said. Everyone looked at her then Angel bent down and sniffed. He made a disgusted face.

"That's not gas." He said. "That's poop."

"Ohh. Baby Connor, did you just go poo poo?" Buffy cooed as she took Connor in her arms.

"I think the smell says it all."

"Well it's a good thing we bought you guys baby stuff like diapers and everything." Xander said.

"Yes. Xander and I bought you diapers and baby oils and powder." Anya said to Buffy.

"Thank you." Buffy said. "I'll go upstairs and change him. Angel why don't you come up and help. You can get some practice with the new baby diapers." Angel followed buffy upstairs. Liam sighed once his parents let the room and plopped himself on the couch.

"Everything alright Liam?" Giles asked looking at his grandson.

"I delivered Connor in an alley, battled a group baby snatchers, blew up a floor in an abandoned building to kill Wolfram and Harts ops team, and stressed about my new born big brothers safety." Liam informed him. "I'm exhausted."

"I think everyone has deserved a well-deserved break." Delia said sitting next to him.

"Speaking of…what's been going on here?" Liam asked the group.

"Well it looks like we got a new enemy." Faith said sitting down.

"The group of nerds?"

"The Trio is what they call themselves." Willow said. "Warren Myers leads them."

"The guy that built the androids?"

"Yep."

"And Jonathon from school." Xander added.

"And Andrew Wells." Tara said. Delia and Liam looked at each other at the mention of Andrew.

"Apparently one day they decided to take over Sunnydale." Dawn said sitting next to Delia. "They've been messing with all of us."

"Especially me." Faith said sounding annoyed. "I had a number a jobs and they all messed them up. Now I'm apparently working at the Double Meat Palace."

"Wow that must suck." Delia commented.

"Yeah it does. I came home one night, I vamp and I fought, I smelled so bad that when he smelled me he just blew me off. Then I staked him for it."

"Why didn't you take the job I offered before I left?" Giles asked her.

"Because the nerd squad made me take care of the same customer over and over and over and over again. Couldn't take it anymore."

"Why don't you try it again?" Liam offered. "This time without having to take care of the same customer. Anything better than a eat palace with no meat."

"I may just do it because I hate my current job."

"I believe we can consider this day to be your last day at the fast food gig." Spike said.

"You said it."

"Ok. So Faith's having job problems, what else is going on?" Liam asked the rest of the group.

"Xander and I are panning our wedding." Anya said with a smile. "We're busy finishing up the seating arrangements, since the wedding is in about two weeks. Are you guys going to attend?" Liam and Delia looked at each other.

"Uh….We'll get back to you." Delia said. "It all depends on if Holtz shows his face again."

"Yeah." Liam said nodding his head.

"Well, let us know so that we can decide to seat you with demons or monster."

"Hunh?" Delia asked.

"Her friends or my family." Xander clarified. "Its ok if you don't come because you both know the outcome." Liam and Delia looked at each other again.

"Right." Liam trailed.

…

For the rest of the week, things were up and well in Sunnydale. Buffy and Angel were happy about their new son. They fed him, played with him, watched him, and all around loved him. They were happier than they ever were. Xander made a joke about Angel being too happy and maybe losing his soul, getting him sour looks form the Summers family. Liam and Delia decided to take a break from research and Demon slaying to help Buffy and Angel with Connor. Liam loved spending time with his big brother who was a baby. It felt a little awkward but he got past it. Willow and Tara were doing fine as a couple. Willow was getting back to doing magic, but in small portions. She didn't want to go overboard on anything. Dawn was excited about being an aunt and played with Connor when Buffy and Angel needed a break. Xander and Anya were busy planning their wedding. Giles had stayed in Sunnydale for a few days before leaving again for England. Buffy wasn't too happy about it but understood. Faith had quit her job at the Double Meat Palace and went back to working with Anya at the magic shop. Thing were better for her there. She didn't have to deal with the same customer over and over again. And she seemed to be happy. However she and Spike were having problems and when she got home, they would sometimes fight. No one was happy about hearing those two fight.

Buffy and Angel were in the living room playing with Connor and just being happy that he was theirs and that he was alive.

"Ohh, you're so cute." Buffy cooed to Connor. She was holding him up to her face. "Yes you are." He started gurgling at her. "Yes that's right. Ohh I could just eat you up."

"Glad you aren't a vampire." Angel said.

"Well you are. That's why I'm hogging my son from you."

"But you had him for nine months. It's my turn now."

"You can have him when I'm done."

"That's not fair."

"I'll tell you what's not fair." Liam said coming in to the room and pocketing his phone. Delia came in behind him. "Faith just called. She and Spike are having another fight and want me to settle it for them because I know that they get along in the future. Since when did I become cupid here? I get you two together, these two together. Who's next?"

"I'm sorry honey." Delia said. "Do you want me to come along to help?"

"Yes. I'm gonna need some female help."

"When do you think you'll be back?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know. You all can start dinner here without us."

"Alright. Hope everything goes well."

"We'll let you know." Liam and Delia left through the front door, leaving Buffy and Angel in the living room with Connor. Buffy held up Connor to her face again.

"Promise me that you will never ever fight with whoever you fall in love with." She said to the week old baby.

"Buffy, I don't think he can understand you." Angel said.

"He doesn't have to. He just has to promise." Angel rolled his eyes.

…

"All I'm asking you to do is to stop doing it." Faith yelled.

"How else am I to provide for us?" Spike asked.

"You could get a real job."

"I can't bloody go out in the sun. That's when most jobs are."

"Then get a night shift."

"There's nothing that's fun."

"It's not fun. But you have to do it." Faith and Spike were fighting in Spike's old crypt. Delia was sitting cross legged on a coffin. Liam was leaning on a wall massaging his temple. They had been listening to Spike and Faiths argument for the past half hour.

"Ok." Liam said finally having enough. He got up from the wall and took a few steps forward. "All I got from your argument is that Spike did something that Faith doesn't like."

"Damn right." Faith said crossing her arms. "Spike is making deals with demons and getting money for it."

"And the problem is?" Delia asked.

"They're dangerous demons who want him to do jobs that could lead to people dying."

"Oh."

"Spike." Liam said looking at his uncle.

"What? I can't do the day to day jobs you lot do." Spike defended himself. "I need the money."

"Spike, look, I understand that you don't have a lot of options. But taking jobs from demons isn't the way. You want to be the man in the future I told you about, correct?" Spike nodded. "Then you need to start by stop doing these jobs. You may still be a vampire, but you're a good one. Soulless, yes. But a good one. You are so good that your own son looks up to you like you're his hero. So start acting like it." Spikes sighed and nodded his head again. "Now, Faith." He turned to Faith. She looked at him. "I know that it's hard being a slayer and working and dating a boyfriend who can only come out at night, but you guys were able to make it work in the future. Don't ask me how, you guys just do. If you can do it then, you can do it now." Faith and Spike looked at each other. Whatever frustration they had for one another was fading away. "You guys are in love. Your love produces a son. What me and Del do when we get into arguments is that we lay everything out and come to an understanding about it. We don't just stick to one ideal. There is no sticking to your own world in relationships. You give and take." Spike and Faith lowered their heads. They knew that Liam was right. They did love each other and they didn't want to lose one another over something that could be dealt with. "Spike, do you love Faith?"

"I never thought I could." Spike said. "But when I saw her in that wedding dress, when I first saw her for who she truly was….I figured out the reason why I was looking for slayers. To find the one that I could compete and love with. I'm lucky to have fallen for her." Faith smiled at Spike.

"And Faith." Liam said looking at Faith.

"For a while, people treated me like a second best show dog." Faith said. "I was treated as the 'other slayer', no guy truly wanted me like Spike does. Probably my fault. But Spike can see past everything that I've done and actually wants to be with me, for me."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Delia commented.

"Can you guys do this?" Lam asked. Spike and Faith looked at each other.

"Yeah." Spike said smiling. "We can make it work."

"Cause this is nothing compared to the other stuff we fight together on." Faith said smiling back.

"Good." Liam said smiling. "Good. Now, what job does Spike have that is so dangerous?"

…

Angel came into the living room with a tray of food for himself and Buffy and a bottle for Connor. Buffy hadn't left Connors side the whole time. She was leaning over the bassinet smiling at her baby.

"Here's dinner." Angel said setting the tray down and picking up Connors bottle. "I also have his."

"Ok." Buffy said not taking her eyes off of Connor. "You know, I never thought that I'd love being a parent so much."

"Remember that feeling when he starts getting interested in girls."

"Well that won't be for a long time. And he will never replace mommy, won't you?" Buffy picked up Connor so that she could feed him.

"Buffy, anymore parenting like that and he will end up a momma's boy." Angel handed her the bottle.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. But the boy does need to have some time to himself, for his friends…..his dad." Angel muttered the last part. Buffy heard and turned to him.

"You think that I won't let you have time with Connor." She accused.

"No. No. I'm just saying that a mother isn't always what a baby needs. He also needs some other people in his life."

"Do you wanna feed and burp Connor?"

"Yes please." Angel smiled. Buffy smiled and rolled her eyes. She carefully gave Connor to Angel and handed the bottle him. Angel sat in the chair and fed Connor the bottle. Buffy sat on the arm of the chair and looked down at her two men. "God, I know that Liam told us about Connor and his siblings. But it's still unbelievable that we have children together."

"I know." Buffy and Angel were blessed with children that they never thought they would have. They already had their first son. And then they would have another and a daughter. They realized that they would have to face some hard roads ahead because all of their children would be special, but they were willing to take the risks. They loved all of their children. They were ready to face any challenges that life would throw at them. After feeding and burping Connor Buffy held him in his arms as Angel fed himself and her. She absolutely loved her life now. The doorbell rang.

"Oh, I got it." Angel said getting up.

"No, it's ok." Buffy said. "Why don't you clean up and I'll go meet who ever's at the door." Buffy placed Connor in his bassinet while Angel took the plates to the kitchen. Buffy went to open the door. Her smile that she had on a few seconds ago faded as she looked at who was standing behind the door. Riley Finn, her ex-boyfriend, stood there dressed all in black with a bulletproof vest on. He had a long scar running from his forehead across one eye and down his cheek. His expression was grim. "You."

"Hey." Riley said.

"Huh?" Buffy stared up at Riley. "Riley."

"Sorry to just drop in on you like this, Buffy."

"It's you."

"It's me."

"You're here."

"I know."

"And ... were you always this tall?"

"Look, this isn't the way I wanted it. But something's come up, something big. We don't have much time. You understand?"

"Uh?"

"Who's at the door, Buffy?" Angel asked coming into the hall with a towel over his shoulder. He stopped and stared as he noticed Riley. Riley stared at Angel. Both of them had grim faces on now. "Riley."

"Angel." Riley acknowledged him. Buffy looked between her husband and her ex-boyfriend. She was worried now that they would get into some sorta fight. The silence broke as Connor started to cry. Angel turned to the living room and went in. "Is that a baby?" Riley asked confused.

"Uh…" Buffy said again. Buffy went in to the living room and Riley followed. Angel picked up Connor and started rocking him. Connor started to calm down.

"I think he's just tired." Angel said. "He's been up all day. I think I'll put him to bed."

"Buffy, is that your baby?" Riley asked.

"Uh…" Buffy said again.

"Hey, Riley." Angel said getting Riley's attention. "Great that you stopped by, but we don't need you. So why don't you go."

"I have business." Riley countered.

"Well take your business somewhere else."

"Angel." Buffy said. Buffy rounded on Riley. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Are you two…." Riley began.

"Yes." Buffy cut him off. "But I wanna know what you're doing here."

"I want to explain, I just don't have time. I've been up for 48 hours straight tracking something bad, and now it's come to Sunnydale."

"What has?" Buffy asked. Riley sighed.

"I know that I'm putting you on the spot, showing up like this, but ... but you know, here we are. I need the best. I need you, Buffy." Buffy stared at him. "Can you help me?"

"No. But I can." Angel said.

"Angel, not now." Buffy said. "I'll help." Buffy said to Riley.

"Buffy."

"Angel, something's in town and I need to kill it. Someone has to stay here and take care of Connor. And you've been wanting to spend time with him."

"Yes, but not when his mother is off with her ex-boyfriend." Connor started to fuss again.

"Angel, it's just work. Connor's getting fussy. Just give him a bath and put him to bed. I'll be home soon." Buffy grabbed her jacket and walked out with Riley, leaving Angel with Connor. Angel watched her leave with a sour face.

…

Buffy followed Riley out of her house.

"Look, I'm sorry this is all so sudden." Riley said. "You know, if we get a minute, I'd really like to sit down..." He stopped as something on his belt began to beep. He grabbed it and looked at it. It looks like a flip-open cell phone except that instead of a digital display it has a red radar screen. Two large blinking red dots show the movement of the demon.

"What is it?" Buffy asked.

"Suvolte demon. Rare, lethal ... nearly extinct, but not nearly enough. It's close." Buffy started to laugh. "What?"

"Sorry. It's just ... you still carry around all that James Bond stuff. It's so cute! I forgot." Riley put the device away, giving Buffy a look. "Sorry. Carry on." They resumed walking.

"We've been tear-assing through every jungle from Paraguay up, taking out nests. As soon as we put one Suvolte down, a dozen take its place. They're breeders, Buffy. One turns into ten, ten becomes a hundred. This gets out of hand and there's a war with humans? Humans are gonna lose."

"So they're like really mean tribbles." Riley gave her another look. "Sorry, I've been dealing with these, these geeks and a baby, it's, it's a whole thing."

"Here." Riley opened the door to a black SUV that was parked outside of Buffy's house. Buffy got in. Riley went around and got in on the driver's side. He turned on the car and drove off.

"Nice wheels." Buffy commented.

"Came with the car." Riley said. Buffy smiled.

"Know where we're goin'?"

"Got an idea. The tag's on-line. We'll find it." There was a GPS screen on the car's dashboard. It showed a blip for the demon and another one for the car. They sat in silence for a while. Riley looked over at buffy and looked at her up and down. "Here." He grabbed something from behind the seat and gave it to her. "No offense, but this is black ops." Buffy looked at what Riley just gave her.

"Ninja wear?"

"Battle gear. Lightweight Kevlar, state of the art."

"What a surprise."

"Boys like toys. Put it on, thank me later."

"You won't look?"

"I'm a gentleman." Riley looked back at the rode.

"Okay…" Buffy started to change out of her jeans and tank top and into her ninja wear. "So ... the black-ops life, it's workin' out for ya?"

"Don't suck."

"They got dental?"

"Yeah, we're covered." Riley smiled. They sat in more silence. They both looked pensive. "You know, there's not many people I'd ask to risk their life for me, Buffy. It's really good to see you."

"Thanks."

"So…you and Angel."

"Yeah. Me and Angel."

"And you have a baby?"

"Yep."

"Who's the father?"

"Angel." Riley looked surprised.

"What? But vampires can't impregnate."

"No. But there were circumstances. Trials, prophecies. Just a big bowl of circumstances that brought home Connor."

"Connor? Nice name."

"Thanks." They sat in silence some more.

"Wait. I thought that Angel had that curse with his soul."

"He does. It's just been modified so that the happiness clause is out."

"Oh. When did that happen?"

"After you left."

"Well obliviously. I meant…how long after?"

"Well….you see…um…it's all very…."

"We're here." Riley pulled the SUV to a screeching halt on a side road. It was mostly rock, and a few scraggly trees. Riley and Buffy got out. They came around to the front of the car and started walking. Buffy was wearing the black 'ninja wear.' Her hair is pulled back into a neat ponytail.

"End of the line?" Buffy asked. Riley shrugged. "I don't see our demon."

"It's not here."

"Let me guess." They walked between some low stone buildings. Riley grinned. They walked over to a fence and looked down. They were standing at the top of a huge dam. "Down we go?"

"Looks that way." Riley started doing something with his equipment.

"That's a big first step. So, Mr. Finn, got an extra jet-pack for a girl like me?"

"Sorry, fresh out of jet-packs. Looks like we'll have to share." Riley attached one end of a rappelling line to the fence. "This test line's built for one, so if we go together, we're not hauling any gear. Just be you and me."

"I was never big on the hardware anyway."

"You hold onto me?"

"Sure."

"Come on." Riley lifted Buffy up onto the fence. She looked into his eyes. Then reality back to her.

"Ready when you are, Agent Finn." Buffy said looking away. She put her arms around his shoulders and they started down. They descended along the side of the dam. They reached the bottom and stood on a stone platform with a low stone wall at the edge. Riley detached the line from his belt. They both started looking around. They ducked past a large pipe with a small trickle of water coming out. Past it, the stone ledge opened out into a wider space with a ladder at one wall. Riley walked past a door and the demon came out of it, tackling him from behind. He threw it off and ducked a swing of its arm.

Buffy attacked the demon and got thrown aside. She leaned against the stone wall and looked over her shoulder at Riley grappling with the demon. Buffy kicked back at the demon and got it off Riley. He punched it and it hit him. Buffy kicked it again. It hit Riley and then Buffy, sending them both reeling back. Riley attacked again and got hit in the stomach. He leaned over in pain.

"Riley!" Buffy said. Buffy grabbed him and used him as leverage to lift both feet off the ground and kick the demon back. It fell to the ground. Riley turned Buffy around and pushed her up against the wall. They both panted and stared at each other. Behind them, another black-clad figure rappelled down from above, landing on the stone floor nearby. It was a woman with long dark hair in a ponytail similar to Buffy's. She looked over at them.

"Hey." She said. Buffy and Riley looked at her as she approached. "Hey there." She said to Riley, then looked at Buffy. "What exactly are you doing with my husband? Buffy stared at Riley in surprise. He looked a little embarrassed.

"Husband?" Buffy asked. Riley nodded. Buffy looked at the woman. "Wife." The woman nodded. "And ... those aren't code names like Big Dog or Falcon or..." The others looking dubious. "I didn't think so."

"Buffy, meet Sam. Sam, Buffy." Riley introduced the girls.

"Pleasure." Sam said sincerely.

"Demon." Buffy said. They all turned to see the demon behind Sam. It had gotten back up again. It snarled at them.

"Mine." Sam said with a grin. Sam approached the demon and grabbed both of its arms, kicking it, taking one arm and hitting it.

"She's good." Buffy said watching the fight.

"She's a special one." Riley said as Sam punched the demon furiously.

"How long have you been married?"

"Four months almost."

"Mazel tov. Any children?"

"Buffy, I meant to tell you. When the time was right. She caught up to us a hell of a lot faster than I would've guessed possible. She does that." Sam kicked and punched the demon.

"So, you-you guys do this often, you know, the whole ... husband-and-wife tag-team demon fighting thing?"

"Yeah, it's what brought us together. I almost feel sorry for the Suvolte." The demon hit Sam across the face and she went down. "But not quite." Riley was about to go for what looked like a tazer, only to stop as a loud roar was heard. Even the demon stopped. Everyone looked around for the source. Buffy knew that roar but couldn't remember from where. Suddenly the demon was flattened to the ground as Liam in his demon form fell down on top of him. Liam stood up. Riley looked stunned at the sight. The demon got up and Liam and it started fighting. Sam got up and joined Riley and Buffy looking at the two demons fighting. Liam slashed twice with his claws and spun kicked the demon into the wall. Buffy, Riley, and Sam heard a scrapping noise and looked up to see Delia sliding down the dam wall with her sword in it, slowing down her descent. She got the platform and pulled out her sword. She went for the demon and Liam.

"Uh…Buffy." Riley said. "Do you know her?"

"Yeah." Buffy said. "And I know him." Liam grabbed the demon and snarled. He lifted the demon up and slammed him into the wall. It crumpled to the ground. Delia lifted her sword to finish it.

"Wait." Sam said. But it was too late as Delia stabbed the demon in the head. She twisted the blade and took it out. Both she and Liam looked at Buffy and the Finn's. Delia looked surprised. You couldn't tell what Liam looked like because he looked like a demon. Sam and Riley looked shocked. Buffy looked anxious because now she has to explain more. Liam snarled and made to go after the Finn's. Riley and Sam got into battle stance. Buffy stepped between them.

"Liam. No." she said. Liam stopped and looked at her. Riley straightened up at the sound of Liam's name. Liam looked at Buffy. "No." She said again pointing a finger at him. Liam looked back up at Riley and took a few steps back. Delia sheathed her sword and stood next to Liam.

"Liam?" Riley asked looking at Demon Liam. Buffy looked back at Riley, knowing that she had a lot more to explain now.

"Uh?" she said for the umpteenth time.

"Liam, just change back. He knows now." Delia said. Liam looked at her and she looked at him. He looked back at the Finn's and Buffy and morphed back to his bare chested, normal self. Riley and Sam both looked surprised.

"Liam." Riley said again.

"So… how was South America?" Liam asked and gave a shrug. Riley just stared. Buffy looked from Liam to Riley, feeling like she was back when Riley first appeared at her doorstep and Angel saw him.

"I guess you have a lot of questions." Buffy said.

"Yeah." Riley said not taking his eyes off of Liam. "For starters, what is he?" he pointed to Liam.

"Long story." Liam said. "One that involves me sacrificing myself and being mutated in what I just turned into."

"Mutated?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Delia said.

"Buffy, did you know about this?" Riley asked her.

"Yeah. I did." Buffy replied.

"And you're ok with it?"

"He's helped save me, my friends, my family, and my son with that form. I'm ok with it." Riley looked at her and back at Liam and Delia.

"And what is she?" he asked.

"She's a friend." Buffy said instantly. "Riley, meet Delia Winters. Liam's wife."

"Wife?"

"Yeah. The both of them are just one big long story." Liam and Delia gave Buffy looks. "Ok, so now that introductions and reunions are out of the way, how about we finish up with this guy before we do." Buffy said. The two couples looked at each other before nodding. Buffy looked to the dead demon on the ground. "So, guess that's mission accomplished." Riley took a few steps forward and knelt by the demon.

"She killed it." He said looking up at Delia.

"Oh, honey ..." Sam said putting a hand on his back. "That's okay."

"Okay? Wait ... you guys have been tracking this thing as a couple for two days straight, and you ... did want it dead, right?" Buffy asked.

"That would be my first guess." Delia said.

"Unless they want it for something else." Liam said. Riley stand up again next to Sam. They looked at each other nervously.

"Let me guess." Sam said looking at Buffy and then at Delia. "Captain Can-Do over here…" She pointed her thumb at Riley. "Forgot to mention that this was a homing operation." Riley looked embarrassed, then reached to get something from his belt. "But it's nice to finally meet you, by the way." She looked to Delia. "And it was very impressive the way you handled yourself."

"Thanks." Delia said nervously. She had been eyeing the Finn's since she first saw them.

"Knife." Sam put out her hand without looking, and Riley gave her a large knife. She knelt beside the demon.

"What is a homing operation?" Buffy asked.

"It's my fault. I should have explained." Riley said. Sam sliced open the demon's stomach with the knife. Thick yellow blood oozed out.

"Damn." Sam said. Buffy and Liam made similar disgusted faces. Sam stood up. "We're too late. Finn ... how could you recruit the Slayer without filling her in on the objective?"

"That'd be my question." Buffy asked.

"If we weren't under severe time constraints I'd seriously think about ripping you all a new one." Delia flinched a little.

"Stand down, soldier." Riley said smiling.

"He's your boss, too?" Buffy asked. Delia snorted and Liam nudged her to shut up. She put a hand over her mouth.

"Oh, he wishes." Sam said. "We better regroup. Buffy, I hate to impose further, but ... you got a safe house?

"I, I have a house. I-I think it's safe." Buffy replied.

"I know the way." Riley said. "And I'll fill you in. On everything." He said to Buffy. Buffy nodded. Riley looked up to Liam and Delia. "Just as long as you fill me in on them." Buffy looked to her son and daughter-in-law.

"Sure." She said uncertainly.

…

Buffy entered through the front door of her house, followed by Sam, Riley, a shirt clad Liam, and Delia.

"Sorry the place is such a mess. I haven't had a chance to give it a good cleaning." Buffy apologized looking at the baby stuff that was in the living room. Dawn was standing in the living-room doorway, her arms folded.

"Hey." Riley greeted her.

"Agent Finn returns." Dawn said.

"Dawn. Geez, look at you. I think you grew a foot and a half.

"A lot can happen in a year." Dawn responded sullenly.

"Well, it's good to see you." Riley said looking chastised. Angel came out from the kitchen and immediately went for Buffy.

"Buffy." He said before giving her a lingering kiss right in front of Riley. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah." Buffy said. "We fought a demon. Liam and Delia came and killed it. Everything's fine."

"Good." Angel looked back up at Riley who looked at him. Willow and Xander appeared from the kitchen.

"Hey, there's the man!" Xander said shaking Riley's hand. "Life taker, heartbreaker. You know, figuratively speaking."

"Xander, Sam. Willow..." Riley introduced his wife.

"Hi." Sam said. Everyone waved at each other.

"And that's Angel." Riley said pointing to Angel. Sam looked at Angel.

"The vampire."

"That's right." Angel said folding his arms. "And you're the Misses Finn."

"That's right."

"Good." Angel looked back at Riley.

"We got your call." Willow said.

"We're here to help." Xander offered. "Just like old times. Except, with you being all big with the married life."

"Hear you're getting hitched yourself. Believe me, you're gonna love it." Riley said. Sam smiled at him.

"Congratulations, really, both of you." Willow said.

"Yes. Yes." Liam started. "We're all married and everyone loves each other. Can we move on to the mission at hand?"

"Right." Riley said. They all moved into the living room. Delia grabbed Liam's arm and pulled him into the dining room.

"Do you know who they are?" Delia asked in a whisper.

"Yes. I do." Liam whispered back.

"They're the General Finn's. The General Couple that lead the demon fighting army."

"I know."

"I can't believe I'm meeting _the _generals."

"Del, they aren't general yet. Not that big of a deal."

"But still. They helped us with so many apocalypses. They helped train the re-organized organization after Buffy and the gang got it back together."

"Del, I was in history class too. I know what they did. But let's not tell them anything about them in the future."

"What about telling them about you? I mean, you don't have those cool sunglasses."

"No. But I may have too."

"Why?"

"Hey Liam, Delia. You guys comin'?" Buffy called form the living room.

"Be right there." Liam called back. "Just stay cool." He told his wife. They made their way to the living room. Dawn and Xander remained standing by the doorway. Dawn still had her arms crossed and her expression saying that she was still mad at Riley.

"So. What brings you back to town after you left suddenly with no word?" She asked. Riley, Sam, Buffy, Angel, and Willow sat down. Liam and Delia stood next to Dawn and Xander.

"Well, actually before we get started on that, I would like to know a little bit more about them." Riley said looking at Liam and Delia.

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"Because, the last time I saw him, he had on sunglasses that disguised his face. Now I see him without them and he looks like Angel, and somehow I can see you in him." Riley looked from Buffy to Angel and back to Liam. "I know I've been gone for some time but….."

"I'm their son." Liam immediately said. Everyone looked to him stunned. Especially Riley and Sam. "I'm Angel and Buffy's son from the future."

"Liam." Delia said. "Are you sure that you….."

"After everything that I did while he was around, yes." Liam looked to Riley who starred open mouthed at him. "Glad you're sitting down for this. It's gonna take a while." Liam spent the next half hour retelling his story to the Finn's. Why he came back, what he did while Riley was there, Buffy finding out, his plans for Connor, Delia, how he can turn into that demon, and the main purpose for being back in time.

After finishing explaining, Riley and Sam sat there on the couch, wide eyed and clearly in shock at everything that they just heard. It may have been a lot for Sam, but Riley was clearly more shocked then she was.

"I know that it's a lot." Liam said.

"Damn right." Riley said getting up.

"Riley." Sam said to stop him.

"No. I need time to figure all this out." Riley turned and went out the front door, brushing past Liam. Liam turned and followed Riley out, leaving everyone else in the living room.

"So….That's Liam." Xander said. Everyone either stared or glared at him. He shut up.

…

"Riley." Liam said. Riley was leaning over the porch beam looking thoughtful. "Look man, I'm sorry."

"For what? Making Buffy lead me on then her going for you dad." Riley said sounding angry. "Or about not telling me the truth at first. I would have understood."

"Yeah right." Liam scoffed. "I saw the way you clung onto my mom. If I told you the truth you might go off and kill dad just so that you could have me as your son."

"Come on. I'm not that hard headed."

"Tell that to your future self." Liam leaned on the beam next to Riley. "Riley, all the missions you go on are easy. You go off and kill a demon and that's it. But with me, I have to be careful about the next step I take. Whether or not squishing a bug changes the future." Riley didn't look at Liam. "Look, the way that you and mom ended is the same way it did in my time when I didn't even travel back. You two weren't meant to be together. I'm sorry that I had to make my mom lie to you, but I needed events to play out the way they did or else risk changing the future in a bad way."

"I thought the future was so bad it couldn't get worse."

"There's always room." Liam sighed. "Riley, if I had it my way, I would tell everyone everything and let them take care of it. I would've told you the truth and reassured you that you would find love. But I can't."

"And yet everyone else knew but me." Riley countered.

"No. I told you. Mom found out first. Then it was Giles. Then my dad. Everyone else found out before and after I died. I didn't want people to know who I was." Riley didn't say a word. He still leaned on the beam and looked at everything but Liam. Liam sighed and sat on the porch swing. "What I really hate about this mission is the secrecy."

"But it looks like you told everyone everything." Riley said.

"Are you kidding me?" Riley finally looked to Liam. "Do you know how many secrets I'm keeping from them?" Liam got up. "Do you know how many lies I'm still telling my family every day?" Riley stared at Liam. "Man, I'm telling them lie after lie about events that are coming up. I'm not telling them anything about disasters and mass murders." After a beat. "I may not have been alive here when it happened, but I could have warned the president and the FAA about 9/11. But I kept it a secret because…..in order for me to save the future, certain events have to unfold in the past." Liam leaned on the beam and looked out to the street. "I have to let things happen if a good future is to turn out. Whether it kills me or not. You have no idea the amount of pressure I'm under. To be able to save so many lives because I know how they died. To be able to answer many peoples prayers by changing certain events. But I can't do a damn thing about it." Riley looked a Liam. Liam didn't look at him.

"I'm sorry." Riley said. "It's just hard knowing that there was a secret during your previous relationship and then finding out what it was and thinking that if it had been out you could have saved it."

"Wouldn't have mattered anyway."

"I'm finding that out." They stood there in silence for a minute.

"So….are we good?" Liam asked looking to Riley. Riley sighed.

"Yeah…..we are." They both shook hands. "And listen, if there's anything you need, if you need back up or something with your mission…."

"I don't know man. Government interfering in my mission. Can't allow it."

"Not the government. Just me and Sam. Just if you need anything like transport or back up…"

"You'll be my first call general."

"General?" Riley asked perplexed. Liam stared at Riley stunned at what he just told him.

"Uh….Ok, we never talk about this. Too much future knowledge can be dangerous."

"Right." Riley nodded. "But General?"

"Let's just get this demon." Liam and Riley went back in to the house and into the living room where everyone was.

"Is everything ok?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, just needed to work threw a few things." Riley said sitting down next to Sam.

"Riley." Sam said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's ok Sam. Liam and I are cool."

"Really?"

"Yeah. What about everyone here?"

"Bit shocked, but glad to know that everything seems to be going ok."

"Don't worry ma'am. It will be." Delia reassured. Liam nudged her again. She shut up. Sam looked to Delia confused.

"How about we get back to the demon we're tracking." Riley suggested.

"I think that's a good idea." Angel said. "So this demon.

"Right, Sam and I have been tracking a Suvolte demon through Central America." Riley explained. "Killing machine. Nearly mature."

"Yeah, three months old and growing fast." Sam added.

"I've heard of them." Angel said. "These things start to kill the minute they're hatched. And leave a real clear trail."

"Yeah. Just follow the villages with nothing in them but body parts."

"Uh ... Dawn, are you sure you wanna be around hearing all this?" Riley asked.

"Oh, come on, Finn, she looks all grown-up to me." Sam said and looked to Buffy. "That is, if it's all right with you."

"Uh, sure, yeah, it's fine." Buffy said.

"So, this demon shredded your guys, and now you're looking for a little payback?" Dawn asked. Sam shook her head.

"No. It came here to the Hellmouth to, to spawn." Sam said and sighed.

"You think it already hatched its eggs somewhere?" Angel asked. Liam and Delia looked at each other.

"And the plan was to track it. Let the demon take us to its nest." Riley said.

"And ... now they're gonna hatch a bunch of ... baby demon things?" Dawn said.

"Unless we stop it." Sam said.

"Which means we have to find the nest, and fast." Buffy said.

"Okay, so we track down the demon, find the nest, Mr. and Mrs. Finn here make with the killin', and everyone goes home happy." Xander said and sat on the sofa beside Sam. "But seriously, married man. If forced to choose between a photographer and place settings-"

"We can't track the demon." Buffy said. Everyone looked at her.

"I killed it." Delia admitted.

"Delia? It's good that you killed the Suvolte before it killed us." Sam said and looked to Xander." Disposable cameras."

"Di – wah?" Xander asked confused.

"Yeah, you, you know, little plastic ones, ten bucks a pop. You arrange them like table settings, guests snap photos, breaks the ice, and when the wedding's over, you get to take home the pictures.

"I like it!" Xander said grinning.

"Genius." Liam commented. Delia looked at him.

"So, demon eggs. Any timetable on when they're gonna hatch?" Buffy asked.

"Hatching's not the problem." Riley said.

"We think they're gonna be sold on the black market." Sam said. Liam turned away and ran his hand through his hair. No one noticed. "There are some foreign military powers that would love to have their own Suvolte. You could never train it, but drop it on an urban population..."

"And it cleanses the area." Angel finished.

"Is that a nice way of saying it kills people?" Dawn asked.

"Lots of 'em." Sam answered. "Money's been exchanged. There's a dealer in town, calls himself the, The Doctor." Delia looked away, rubbed her neck, and joined Liam who was by the door. "Willow, you think you can help with a little locating spell?"

"I can't do the magicks." Willow said quietly.

"Oh, Riley says you're comin' on as one major-league Wicca."

"That's a bit of the problem. Major-league Wicca in such short time. It could cause a lot of devastation."

"No kiddin'." Liam muttered under his breathe. Willow exited towards the kitchen. Sam looked upset.

Two teams. No civilians." Riley said. "I'll, uh ... I'll go out and look for our Doctor. You two find that nest."

"Me and Sam together?" Buffy asked.

"I don't think so." Angel said. "Buffy, this thing is killer. I'm coming too."

"Ok, so Angel and Buffy go out and find the nest, Riley and I'll find the doctor." Sam said.

"And we'll help too." Liam said and opened the door.

"We'll just get a head start on looking for that nest." Delia said and left with Liam in toe. Buffy looked back at everyone with a confused expression.

"Well that was weird." She said. "But they got the right idea. Let's go. Xander, are you okay to stay with Dawn and Connor?"

"Yeah." Xander said.

…

Buffy, Angel, Riley, and Sam entered Willy's place. The place was crawling with demons. Riley and Sam seemed to be on edge. Angel and buffy just strode on over to the bar.

"Willy." Angel said. Willy turned around and looked at the couple.

"Hey." Willy greeted them both with a smile. "Look who it is. Angel and the slayer. Man, what's been? A few years."

"We need information Willy." Angel demanded.

"Hey Angel, look. I know that I tell you guy's things, but…." Buffy grabbed his collar and pulled him down to the bar counter. "What do you wanna know?"

"The Doctor." Buffy said. Riley and Sam walked over. "Someone or something is calling themselves that and is looking to sell Suvolte demon eggs on the black market."

"Tell us what you know, and I won't have to relive a time in 1876 in France in a pub." Angel threatened. "And I'm really hopin' you say 'no'. I haven't killed a demon in while."

"Ok,ok,ok." Willy gave in. "It's Spike. He's the one sellin' the eggs." Buffy let go of Willy and looked at him.

"Spike?" she asked. "He's the doctor?"

"Yeah. Said he could finally get some cash for his girl. You know, Faith."

"Faith?" Riley asked. "She's back?"

"Yes. But Spike's gone." Buffy said. All of the left the bar.

"Nicely done back there by the way." Sam complimented.

"Thanks." Angel and Buffy said together while they strode off with Riley and Sam in the rear.

…

Buffy and Angel banged the door to Spike's crypt open and where met with a shocking site. Faith and Spike were lying on the crypt sleeping with some blankets covering them, cuddling each other. One of Faith's bare legs was exposed. Spike stirred as the door banged open. He lifted his head to look. Faith looked too, gasped and sat up, holding a blanket over her breasts, pulling it over to cover her bare leg.

"Bloody hell." Spike said seeing them. "Haven't you all ever heard of knockin'?"

"I'm blind." Buffy said seeing the sight.

"Hey, B." Faith said. "I don't say anything about you two. You don't say anything about us."

"Spike, we're not here for this." Angel said. "We need to talk."

"Well, looky here." Spike said eyeing Riley and Sam who just came in. Riley had a shotgun in hand. Faith saw him too.

"Hey, I remember you." She said grinning. "Sorry babe, I'm takin'." Buffy looked a little disgusted.

"That's not why were here" Sam said. And looked to Spike.

"Doctor." Riley said eyeing Spike. Everyone looked to Spike.

"Here I thought we'd run you out of town, mate." Spike said. "Last time I saw you, if memory serves, you were getting the juice sucked out of you by some undead ladies of very questionable reputation."

"Spike, not now." Angel said angrily.

"And what's with you? He did take her after you left. He shagged her up a whole lot more then you."

"Spike, I'm not killing you now because Liam said not to." Angel growled. "But I will if it means getting what we came for. Now ...where are the eggs, Spike?"

"Eggs?" Spike asked.

"Oh, you remember." Faith said still holding the blanket over her. "The Suvolte demon eggs."

"Oh right."

"Faith! You knew about this?" Buffy accused.

"Hey, I just found out about a few hours ago."

"So you what? Shag Spike as a reward."

"No! We had some problems and we got over them. And as for the demon eggs, they're taken care of."

"What do you mean?" Riley asked. Suddenly the trap door to Spike's underground opened up and a puff a smoke escaped. They heard coughing as two figures appeared. It was Liam and Delia. The both of them were covered in soot. Liam had a flamethrower over his back. Delia waved her hand in front of her face to clear away the smoke.

"God, I though smoking helped you when it came to smoky rooms." Delia said coughing.

"It does." Liam said coughing as well. "If you smoke four packs of cigarettes a day for 40 years." He coughed some more. "But thankfully, I don't have that." They both looked up at the three couples staring at them. "Hey guys."

"We found the nest." Delia coughed some more. Buffy came over and stood in front of Liam.

"You knew that Spike had the eggs and didn't tell us." Buffy accused.

"Excuse me for trying to help out family." Liam defended himself and pointed to the Spike and Faith. "I helped solve some of their issues and took care of a problem." He coughed a little bit more.

"But you knew about the eggs and didn't tell us." Angel said.

"Look, I just burned them all. Be glad they ain't runnin' around."

"I guess now it's mission accomplished." Riley said and sighed.

"Kinda glad we didn't get our hands dirty." Sam said.

"Lucky you." Delia said looking down at her soot covered hands.

…

The entire Scooby gang was outside of the magic shop.

"Well, the wedding itself was held in a military chopper just before a hairy night drop into hostile territory." Sam explained her wedding to Xander.

"Huh! And just curious, what's a chopper rental run these days?" Xander asked. Everyone exchanged amused looks.

"Oh, well, actually, we commandeered it from a local guerilla squad, so ... cheap!"

"Oh!"

"Yeah." Sam looked to Willow. "You have my email, you promise you'll keep in touch?"

"You won't get traced? I don't wanna lead the bad guys to your location by mistake." Willow said. Sam and Riley smiled at each other.

"Our line's secure."

"Oh, huh, duh, of course it is! I keep thinking of you like regular people, but no, you're not."

"Oh, right, like demon-hunting is all exotic to a girl from Sunnydale."

"Not all that appealing to me." Delia said. Liam smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"And it was a pleasure to meet you Delia." Sam said. "You're one hell of woman and a soldier." Delia clicked her heels and stood at attention to her.

"Thank you ma'am."

"Del, cut it out." Liam said grinning. Sam smiled at the gesture. Sam hugged Willow, Delia, and Xander. Dawn confronted Riley.

"So you gonna say goodbye this time, or just ... split all secret-agenty like last time?" Dawn asked as the sound of a helicopter was heard.

"Depends." Riley said. "I warrant a hug?" Dawn didn't smile, but she stepped forward and hugged Riley. Then he pulled back to look at her face. "Goodbye, Dawn."

"I thought it would suck less this time. It doesn't." Riley smiled fondly at her. He looked to Liam and Delia.

"So you guys gonna be ok with your mission?" He asked them.

"We'll let you know if we need help." Liam said. Riley smiled and nodded to them. He looked behind him at Buffy and Angel, who was holding Connor. Riley walked towards them. Riley shifted his feet.

"I'm happy for you two." He said to them. Buffy smiled. Angel cocked a quick grin. "You two really have something special. And I'm not just talking about the baby."

"Thank you." Buffy said. "Be sure to send me a postcard."

"I'll manage." Riley and Buffy pulled out of the hug. Riley looked to Angel. "Angel." Riley said and held out his hand. Angel took it after a beat. "You take care of her and that baby. Or will come after you and kill you."

"Not before I kill you first." Angel said cocking a grin. They let go.

"It was really nice meeting you all." Sam said and tapped Riley on the shoulder. "You ready for Nepal, agent?" Riley followed Sam onto the street. The helicopter's lights were shining on the group. Riley and Sam moved a bit away from the others. A thin wire dropped down from the copter. Riley attached it to his belt. He and Sam put their arms around each other, and Riley tugged on the line to signal the copter. They both rose into the air as the helicopter flew them away. Everyone was waving bye to them as they left.

**And that's the end of that. It will be a few chapter before Holtz and Connor and Sahjhan. But when we get there, you'll all be in for some surprises. Comment an Review.**


	16. Waiting in the Wings

Chapter 16: Waiting in the Wings

**Hey guys. Sorry about the ling wait. Finals took up most of my time. But now that school's out, I have more time for this. There is only one more, or possible two more chapters before the Connor, Sahjhan, and Holtz chapter arc. We are getting close to Connor's kidnapping. Or are we? Enjoy.**

It was a pretty eventful week after Riley's reappearance in Sunnydale. A few days after Riley left, the Summers family went to LA to celebrate Cordy's birthday. Only for her birthday to turn upside down when she had a major vision that sent her into a coma. Angel and Liam investigated why and found out she was dying from her visions. Angel wet off to try and help Cordy but he didn't have so much luck. Once Cordy got out of her coma, they all found out she became part demon, especially since she could float in the air several inches off the ground. Xander and Anya's wedding was in happening in a couple of days and the Scooby gang was scrambling with last minute thing. Angel and Buffy had managed to escape from the ensued chaos that was planning to come to LA and be with the A.I. team. They also wanted to see how Cordy was doing with her new found half demon status.

…

Wesley is sitting in front of a book open to a woodcut of a demon.

"Honestly, have you ever seen anything lovelier?" he asked. "So - graceful, so full of life. And those eyes... make you feel like you're the only man in the room."

"Plus, six breast." Cordy said.

"Any man is gonna love that." Delia commented smiling. She was sitting on one side of the reception table.

"Fred doesn't have six breasts! - Right?" Wes asked.

"God, I hope not." Liam said coming into the reception area. "Please tell me you guys are talking about a demon."

"Sorialus the Ravager." Cordy said writing on a notepad and looked down at the book. Liam looked relieved. "And, yeah, she's the one from my vision."

"Coming to destroy the humans that killed her mate."

"But not for another month or so." Delia said.

"I'll file her under 'pending.' - You're gonna ask her out?" Cordy asked.

"The Ravager?" Wes asked.

"Fred." Delia corrected.

"Oh. - Yes - but, you know - timing. I'll make my move when I feel the iron is hot." Liam smiled and shook his head as he remembered he did the same thing with Delia. Delia noticed this and remembered too, smiling.

"Well, get it done, Johnny Reb." Cordy said. "So I can hear about something else, and you can do something else besides feeling your hot iron."

"Am I very boring on the subject?"

"You know, there was a time when you thought I was the loveliest thing in the world." Cordy said smiling.

"Whoa! Really?" Delia asked smiling.

"Yep. He would stare at me as if I was an angel. He even thought I taught psychology at the high school."

"First word: Jail. Second word: Bait." Liam said smiling.

"That's what Faith said. And then we got to the long awaited kiss. And then we decided to be just friends because we both didn't feel anything. But he still had some sorta thing for me."

"Well, I..." Wes shuttered. "You're an extraordinary woman." Cordy raised an eyebrow. "I..." Delia couldn't help but giggle a little.

"At ease, soldier." Cordy said. "Just like to hear it every now and then. I was the ditziest bitch in Sunnydale, could have had any man I wanted."

"Oh come on Cordy." Liam said. "What you were in high school means squat to what you could be in life. You're a catch." Cordy smiled.

"Thanks. But now I'm all superhero-y and the best action I can get is an invisible ghost who's good with the Loohfah." Wes looked at her for half a moment then looked back down at his book.

"I'm sorry. I missed that last part." He said.

"You 'are' a gentleman."

"Who's doing what with the Loofah?" Angel asked. He and Buffy had just walked in and Angel had a huge smile on his face.

"Not Loofah, Looh-fah." Wes said getting up. "Nooctm... Skumth. It's a demon."

"So, you both went with the dark clothes today." Cordy said eyeing both Buffy and Angel's decision for clothing. Both were wearing dark outfits.

"Hey, Summers' look good in black." Liam said.

"Ask me why I'm smiling." Angel said.

"Please ask him. It's a little unnerving." Buffy said.

"I will, because it's scaring me." Cordy said. Angel pulled some tickets out of his back pocket and held them up.

"We - are stepping out." He said.

"Really? Where?" Delia asked excitedly.

"You'll just have to wait and see." Delia pouted. She wanted to know.

…

"Morning friends and neighbors. Ooh, are those the tickets? You got 'em?" Gunn said, entering the lobby where the rest of the A.I. team was.

"Well, I got to the ticket place and..." Angel began.

"I'm paying you back. This one's on me. Mahta Hari is the tightest band in LA. You guys are gonna be trippin' out."

"The only thing is..." Gunn put a hand on Angel's shoulder.

"Look, I said I'm good for it, man. Don't have to worry about dippin' in the Connor college fund." Gunn took the tickets from Angel. "The time I saw the Mahta Hari at the Troubadour they were the…" He reads tickets. "Blinnikov World Ballet Tour. What's going on?"

"I was trying to tell you. I got to the ticket place and boom! Tonight only!"

"But - you got ballet on my Mahta Hari tickets."

"This is the Blinnikov World Ballet Corps."

"He's been saying that like it has meaning." Buffy said. "Entertain him."

"This is one of the premier companies in the world. And they're doing Giselle! It's their signature piece."

"This is all like some horrible dream." Gunn said.

"I think I've heard of them. Very ahead of their time." Wes said.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah." Angel said excitedly. "I saw their production of Giselle in eighteen-ninety. I cried like a baby. And I was evil!"

"Angelus crying?" Delia said chuckling. "I may just go to see that."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be him." Liam pointed out. "Soul and everything."

"Oh yeah."

"I-I think it sounds exciting!" Fred said.

"Yes." Wes agreed.

"No. No! This is not Mahta Hari." Gunn protested. "This is tutus, and guys with their big-ass packages jumping up and down. This is just... I will never trust you again. The trust is gone."

"Oh, get over it. Do we get dressed up?" Cordy asked.

"Of course." Angel said.

"I'm in."

"Liam? Delia?" Angel asked his son and daughter-in-law. The married couple looked at each other and then back at Angel.

"Uh….sorry dad." Liam said rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think we're going to go with you."

"Oh, come on. This is exciting. It's riveting. You'll love it."

"That's what you said when you took me and Kathy to a ballet performance when we were 12."

"And?"

"To us, it went a little something like this." Liam closed his eyes, hung his head to one side and snored really loudly. Imitating sleeping. Delia laughed at him.

"What? But ballet is…."

"Dad…No."

"Delia, please talk some sense into him." Angel pleaded to Delia.

"Sorry Angel-face." Delia said. "I went to a ballet performance to kill a guy in the future. I had to sit through twenty minutes before I finally found him in a balcony. Longest twenty minutes of my life."

"Guys, seeing real ballet live it's..." Angel sighed. "It's like another world. Gunn, these guys are tight, and you're gonna be trippin' out."

"Don't be usin' my own phrases when we lost the trust." Gunn said.

"Come on, guys. Working day, cases to solve." Cordy interjected.

"Okay. But I'm not still paying, right. Because this is..." He looked at the tickets. "This is... It's like a nightmare."

…

Liam was wiping at the back of Angel's tux jacket with a rag.

"Is it gonna to be alright? Is there a stain?" Angel asked frantically.

"Relax dad. I've got the soda water working overtime." Liam replied.

"Are you sure you two will be fine with Lorne and Connor?"

"We'll be fine, Angel." Delia said getting up off the bed and coming over. "No demons to fight tonight. Connor's sleeping. And Liam and I have our own evening of research and stuff."

"Everything will be fine." Liam added and finished up wiping Angel's jacket. Angel sat on the edge of the bed and started to put his shoes on.

"So, how's it comin' in here?" Lorne asked from the bedroom doorway.

"Dad's panicking because he's leaving Connor with us for the first time." Liam replied.

"Well, that's normal for a parent." Lorne walked into the room.

"And I'm sure Buffy's just as worried." Angel said.

"Actually she seemed pretty calm when I just checked on her. And speaking of Buffy, we got a little term back in Pylea. Kyrumption?" Lorne said.

"I know it." Angel replied.

"Okay. When two great heroes come together…"

"Lorne, we're going to the ballet. There will be no coming together." Angel stood up.

"Can't fight Kyrumption, cinnamon buns. It's fate. It's the stars. Kyrumption is..."

"Stop saying that. And stop calling me pastries."

"Should I call you a pastry name?" Delia asked Liam.

"Like what?" Liam asked. Delia shrugged.

"You're a man of many limitations, Angel." Lorne continued. "But you're a man. You got a heart. And Buffy is a hell of a lady. I mean, if I thought she'd like to wear green, I'd be elbowing you out of the way. But she's out of my league. She's a champion, Angel, old school."

"Lorne, Buffy, she's..."

"She's what?" Buffy asked, coming into the room.

"I...I was just saying that you're not much of a ballet fan." Angel said. He couldn't help but gape at Buffy. She was gorgeous. She was wearing a beautiful black dress very similar to what she wore the first time she ever died. "You… you look like..."

"Like a ballet fan? An aficionado? A devotee, in fact?" Buffy reached up to adjust Angel's bow tie. "Tonight I've decided that we don't have to be our incredibly dreary selves. Tonight we're just a couple of young sophisticates enjoying an evening of classical dance. How does that sound?"

"Sounds just right."

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have the list?" Buffy asked Liam. "Contact numbers, emergency contact numbers, what to do in case of a demon attack, if he suddenly gets sick…."

"Mom." Liam said interrupting her pre-break down. "It's going to be alright. Del and I have taken care of kids before. Nothing new."

"Except that now it's your older brother who's the baby infant here and you'll probably having to wipe his butt." Delia added. Liam turned and glared at her.

"Thanks for that." He deadpanned.

"Don't mention it." Delia smirked. Liam turned back to his parents.

"We'll be fine. Just have yourselves a good time."

"We will. Let's go." Angel held his arm out for Buffy and Buffy slipped her arm through. They walked to the stairs, Lorne not too far behind even though he wasn't going. Liam and Delia decided to follow to see off the team. They heard Gunn and the others talking.

"Yes. Isn't she a vision." Wes said.

"A lot of that going around." Gunn said.

"Thank you, but no thank you. There will be no visions tonight." Cordy said.

"How can you be sure?" Angel asked. They all looked up at them.

"Buffy, you look absolutely marvelous." Gunn said.

"Thank you." Buffy said taking Gunn's hand he offered to help her down the stairs.

"I had a vision." Cordy said as Wes draped his coat over her shoulders. "Thank you." Then she whispered. "The iron is hot." Wes looked from Cordy to Fred.

"Let's go then!" Angel said. He held his arm out for Buffy to take again. "Shall we?"

"We shall." Buffy replied.

…

Thirty minutes later they were entering the lobby of the theatre and headed towards their seats. Fred looked around excitement. They all sat down in their seats. Wes, Fred, Cordy and Gunn were sitting together in one row Angel and Buffy were sitting in the row just behind them.

"Sorry they're not closer. Getting six seats together..." Angel said.

"Don't be silly. Best place. We get the whole panorama from here." Wes said.

"Besides, back here we stand less chance of setting off the 'under seventy' alarm." Cordy said.

"Back in the day I'd always get box seats. Or I'd just eat the people who had 'em." Angel said to Buffy.

"Don't lets-reminisce. We're here. Enjoy." Buffy said. Below them, the curtain opened and the show began. After a while, Gunn sat forward in his seat intent on the whole thing. Cordy was asleep. She was snoring lightly on Wes's arm. Buffy held Angel's hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. Fred watched the whole thing with awe and Wes watched her in awe. The whole time, Angel's frown grew deeper. The act came to an end and Gunn flew to his feet.

"Bravo! Bravo!" he applauded.

"I love it!" Cordy said being jerked awake.

"It's just intermission." Angel said.

"Oh." Cordy wiped her face.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Gunn continued.

The group got up and walked out into the lobby.

"I say it once, and gloat all you want: these guys are tight, and I am trippin' out." Gunn said.

"They certainly live up to their reputation. Has the choreography changed much since..." Wes started.

"No. Nothing's changed." Angel said.

"Well, it's wonderful they're able to…"

"No. I mean, nothing's changed. These are the same dancers I saw before."

"That's impossible. We're watching the exact same troupe you saw in nineteen-ninety?" Fred said.

"I think he said eighteen-ninety." Gunn said.

"Oh. Ok, that's much more impossible."

"So, somebody wanna tell me how we're watching a show starring people who should have died sixty years ago?" Angel asked.

"Well, it's a puzzler. Are there snacks?" Cordy asked.

"So what are we thinking? Vampires?" Buffy asked.

"Well, they're not a deeply tanned bunch."

"That would explain the precision and the athleticism. I mean, some of those jumps were..." Gunn said. He saw the others looking at him. "You know, I was cool before I met you all."

"Dancing vampires. Who's not scared?" Cordy said.

"Not it. I'd know. I'd sense it." Angel said.

"Even all the way back there… with the panoramic view?" Wes asked.

"I'd be able to sense it too. So they are definitely not vampires." Buffy said.

"We should check it out." Angel said.

"Maybe after the show we should head backstage?" Fred asked.

"I was thinking now. You guys should go back. I'll snoop."

"I'm with snoopy. The magic of the ballet not really getting to me anymore." Buffy said.

"Go." Angel said to the others.

"Hurry." Gunn said.

Buffy and Angel headed off towards the stairs that led to backstage. They descended and found a big security guard standing in front of the doors.

"Check out the zeppelin." Buffy said.

"Awful lot of muscle for a ballet company." Angel replied.

"You want, I could distract him? Make with the nice, nice while you slip by?"

"Don't be stupid. I'm that guy and the most beautiful girl I've ever seen is making eyes at me? It's either bachelor party or a scam."

"What did you just call me?"

"I'm sorry. You're not stupid."

"No. After that."

"I think I'll just have to go with our patented sudden burst of violence."

"Hey, hold on. I think I might have an approach that is a little more subtle." Buffy walked up to the guard. "Hey, do you like bribes?"

"Do I ever!" the guard said.

"Well, we REALLY wanna go backstage." Buffy said, handing him some money.

"Yeah, okay, but this isn't so much a bribe as it is a tip. And since I'm not parking your car, there's really no way that..." The guard was cut off when Angel clocked him.

"Ok, that's how we do it." Angel said. They walked through the door.

"Okay. You saw the building as we drove by. Do you remember it going on forever?" Buffy asked. They stared at a corridor that stretched on without so much as an ending anywhere in sight.

"It's clearly a spell, or a time flux, or something. I don't think we wanna be rushing in here."

"Well, let's get the others and talk options." Buffy and Angel turned around to find that the door was gone.

"Works in theory." Angel deadpanned.

…

Liam was sitting at his desk, flipping through papers. Delia was sitting cross legged on the floor with Connor in her lap facing him.

"You have the most peaceful eyes." Delia cooed to the baby. Connor gurgled at her. "Do you know that you have the most peaceful eyes ever?"

"Try telling him that when he comes back from a hell dimension." Liam said not looking up from his papers. Delia's smile faded and she turned to Liam.

"I cannot believe you just said that." Delia said with disgust. Liam looked up and sighed, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his face with his hands. "The whole reason you came back to this time in particular was to save Connor. Now you're saying that you'll let him be taken?"

"No." Liam said sounding frustrated. He took in a breath to calm himself. "It's just that I've been going over page after page of notes and books and references…Anything that could lead us to the orb. But I've found nothing." Delia picked up Connor and stood up. She walked over to Liam.

"You've been working hard this past week. Why don't you take a break."

"Del, taking a break is what got me so far behind. I might have found out this stuff months ago had it not been for family and friends."

"I know." After a beat. "Liam, we'll find it."

"How Del?" Liam faced her. "We have nothing. The only thing we do have is the file you brought back and it tells us everything except where to find the orb. Wolfram and Hart found it in 2020. Ten years before they enacted to apocalypse. We have twenty years to find this thing. How are we to do it? Wait and watch Wolfram and Hart until they leave for some place or come back with it? Del, I can't wait that long." Liam got up from the chair and laid down on the bed. Delia put Connor in his bassinet and sat down next to Liam.

"We'll come up with something. We always do."

"Well I would love to have a plan now." Liam sat up and bent over, resting his elbows on his knees. "Sitting around and looking at pages that I've looked out thousands of times isn't working." Delia rubbed his back soothingly. Their plan so far wasn't getting them anywhere. Liam had been in this time period for a year and a half now, and he hasn't made much progress. Delia had only been in this time for several months and that didn't help much either. "We have to find this thing, Del. We have to find it soon."

"We will." Delia said. She looked over to Connor in the bassinet and smiled. "You know, this is kinda nice."

"What is?"

"Us. Together. With a baby. Even if it is your brother." Liam looked up at Connor and smiled too.

"Kinda like our dream together."

"Yeah." Liam straightened up and looked at her. "You know how much I want that for us."

"I do." Delia leaned forward and kissed her husband. They had both fought hard to be with each other. Not anything like how Buffy and Angel fought, but enough. The only thing that kept them apart was time, literally. "I love you."

"I love you." They held each other in their arms.

"I could certainly get use to this. Watching and playing with a baby. Getting a house with bedrooms and a garage and a library study."

"Yeah." Liam said smiling thinking about all of that. Then a thought occurred. "Library." He whispered.

"Yeah. For all of my old books. We could even…" she was cut off as Liam stood and paced around. Delia knew that pace. It was Liam's thinking pace. "I know that pace. What are you thinking?"

"The Watcher's Grand Library." Liam said, stopping his pace and looking at her.

"What about it?"

"It could have information about the orb that we don't have."

"But the Watcher's Council and its library was blown up. Remember?"

"I remember that it blew up when potential slayers started pouring into Sunnydale." Liam smiled. "That hasn't happened yet." Delia got it and stood up.

"The Watcher's Council is still active." She said.

"And so is their library."

"We might have a chance at finding this thing."

"If we don't die before searching half of the library. Grandpa Giles once told me that the library was so big that one could get lost in it."

"But it's definitely better than what crap we have here."

"Yes it is. All we need to do is infiltrate the Watcher's Headquarters and search the library." Delia looked a little surprised.

"Uh…honey. I don't think you get exactly what we have to do here. The Watcher's Council is completely guarded with everything modern in security and weaponry. Its more heavily guarded then Fort Knox."

"Which we broke into." Liam reminded her.

"Oh yeah." Delia said remembering. "But it's still suicidal."

"If we can get into Fort Knox, and dad and I were able to break into Wolfram and Hart, we can get into the Watcher's Council."

"How?"

"I don't know yet. But, that's going to have to wait for another time. We have to deal with another crisis on our hands." Liam looked to Connor in the bassinet.

"Holtz." Delia said looking at Connor as well.

"Yep."

"How do you plan on saving Connor and defeating Sahjhan and Holtz?" Liam was about to answer but was interrupted by the knocking on the door.

"Yes." Liam answered.

"It's me." Lorne sang form the other side. Liam made his way to the door and opened it up. "Sorry to bother, but I hope you don't mind if Uncle Lorne has some time with the little crumb cake."

"Knock yourself out." Liam said gesturing for Lorne to come in. Lorne did so and picked Connor up out of the bassinet.

"He looks a little tired. I'm gonna put him in his room."

"Ok." Lorne left with Connor and Liam closed the door behind him, then looked at Delia.

"You were saying about your plan." She reminded him.

"I've got one. But you're not going to like it."

"What do you mean?" Delia asked sounding worried.

"There's only one way to take out all of Connor's enemies in one swipe."

"How?" Delia asked sounding worried. Liam looked uneasy.

…

Buffy and Angel were walking down a corridor. Soon they came to a door that caught their attention. They opened it up and walked inside.

"This is her dressing room." Angel said.

"The prima ballerina." Buffy said.

"It's unchanged." Buffy sat down at the dressing table and looked at a necklace with a cross on it.

"She would wait for him here."

"It's warm. It's very warm."

"I feel it." Buffy turned to him.

"Something happened here."

"Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"I want you... to undress me."

"You what?"

"It's just another costume. I want you to see who I really am. You're the only one who can."

"I... This isn't us. Buffy," Angel licked his lips, "we're acting this out. Someone is…"

"Whoa! Did... did I actually just ask you to undress me?"

"Is that what you want?" Angel took a step closer.

"Please… I…"

"You want me to make love to you right here?"

"You know I do."

"But you're afraid." Angel whispered as he caressed Buffy's cheek.

"What if he finds us?"

"I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid of anything."

"I'm only alive when you're inside me." They started to kiss passionately. Suddenly there was a hiss and Buffy and Angel jumped apart.

"Buffy!"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"No. We so need to be out of here."

"Yes." They started to breathe hard and move towards each other.

"This isn't out of here." Buffy said.

"I know. Right." They started to move towards the door, on the verge of another kiss. Buffy turned her back to Angel and snaked an arm around his neck.

"Open the damn door." Buffy said.

"Kinda hard."

"Kinda noticed." Never losing his touch on Buffy, Angel got his hand to the door and turned the knob. The broke apart and headed through the doorway. Angel slammed the door shut. "Whoa!" Buffy said.

"That's a fair assessment." Angel said, leaning with his back against the door

"What the hell is that place?"

"There's spirits in there. Energy trapped in time. It took us over."

"Yee. Scary. Well, it's a good thing it wears off right away."

"Yeah. Good thing." Angel took his jacket off and laid it across his arm as they started to walk.

"How was that bad?"

"What?"

"We're married. We've done stuff kinda like that on a regular basis. How was that bad?"

"Wasn't. I was just... I don't know."

"Well, the last time we were possessed by spirits, we kinda fixed things for them."

"Yeah."

…

Lorne placed Connor into the crib in Angel's room singing softly.

"_Go to sleep, lullaby, you've been fed and you're sleepy. You'll be with uncle Lorne, who in no way resents not being asked to go to the ballet."_ Lorne sang and sat down by a desk and picked up a magazine. _"And is certainly, not thinking, of selling you to the first vampire cult that makes him a decent offer..." _Lorne was reading the magazine, humming to himself. He stopped and glanced towards the door. He put the magazine down as he got up. "Hey, you just sleep on, little nipper. Uncle Lorne is gonna make sure we're alone." Lorne picked up Angel's fighting ax, leaning against the nightstand next to the rubber ducky, and heads for the door. "Won't be gone a moment." The door opened as Lorne reached it and his eyes go wide. "Oh my god."

…

"Are you sure this is the way?" Buffy asked as she and Angel wondered the endless corridors of whatever place they were in.

"I'm sure it's 'a' way." Angel said. "Place is a maze. I'm just hoping there's another room. We can just go..."

"Damn it!"

"What?"

"I said something. Back in that room. Something important. Do you remember?"

"Um, you… you're only alive when I… I'm..."

"Not that!"

"No. Of course. I... I was just.. Oh. Hey! I said you were afraid."

"And I said, what if he finds us?"

"She had a secret lover."

"They were afraid of someone. And I'll bet you anything that someone is the reason why we're stuck here! We left too soon."

"We... who? The room?"

"It's a clue! Those spirits or... or energy or… or whatever are still in there. So we can figure out what happened. We have to go back in!"

"I'm marveling at the wrongness of that idea. What if it ends bad, like the last time, and one of us ends up dead?"

"All you got was shot! You wanna wander around backstage like Spinal Tap for the next... ever?"

"I'm sure there are other rooms that..."

"All we have to do is play the scene. Get in, get out."

"What if there is no more talking in that scene?"

"Well, I've got my little cross if things get out of hand."

"Sure?"

"Positive." They headed back towards the room and went in. They walked back to where it had all started and stood there.

"Anything coming?" Angel asked after a few minutes.

"Um..." Buffy paced in a little circle around Angel. "Ok. Let's take it from the middle. I want you to undress me."

"You want me to have sex now with you here?"

"Yes, but I'm scared."

"But you're afraid."

"And afraid. What if we... he... finds us?"

Angel took Buffy's shoulders and gently pulled her forward towards him. "Well, I'm not afraid of anything."

"Only good inside, blah, blah, blah…" Buffy looked up at Angel and shrugged. She reached up and kissed him.

"Maybe it only works the one time. You know, when the energy..." Angel didn't get to finish. Buffy pulled his head down into a fiery kiss. She dropped the cross necklace behind Angel's back. He moved her back towards the couch and gently laid her down. Angel gently laid kisses all over her neck.

"This is wrong." Buffy said.

"Hush."

"You don't know him. He has power."

"The power to do this?" Buffy gasped, took a deep breath, and another.

"Stephan, his power is unnatural. He could..."

"What? Kill us?"

"Worse."

"Kurskov owns the company. He doesn't own you."

"He doesn't know that. He thinks I'm his." Buffy sat up as a Russian accent entered her speech. "That I dance for him. He is nothing but a deluded fan. He thinks I love him."

"Come away with me. Now. Tonight. We'll disappear. Even he won't find us."

"I… Stephan, everything I worked for is here."

"You can still dance."

"Can I? I don't... Not yet. Maybe when we're..."

"Don't. Don't make promises."

"Help me. Help me be not afraid." She sank back onto the lounge and Angel went back to kissing her neck. After a while, the top of Buffy's dress ended up at her waist and Angel made his way south with kisses.

"Oh, no!" Buffy sat up "Oh, no!" Angel sat up just in time to get knocked to the floor by a person in a gray 'comedy' mask. Buffy peered over the top of the lounge couch to find another monster in a 'tragedy' mask as the first one hit Angel again. She grabbed the straps of her dress and pulled them back over her shoulders. "Okay. So. They were probably interrupted by this Count Kurskov, or his lackeys, right? So we're done with the…" Buffy started. Angel came charging at her and Buffy shot her hands up over her face to shield herself as Angel launched himself over her and tackled the tragedy monster. Buffy stood up and released a sharp side kick at the comedy monster. The thing went flying back. Buffy started to throw everything she could find at the monsters. The comedy monster pulled out a sword and started to slash at Buffy.

"A little help!" Buffy called. The tragedy monster pulled out a dagger and stabbed Angel in the heart.

"Thank you." Angel said. He pulled out the dagger and punched the monster in the chin. The thing fell to the floor and Angel stabbed it through the heart with its sword at the same time throwing the dagger at the comedy monster, stabbing it through the throat. "You alright?" Angel asked.

"Yeah. We gotta move." Angel looked from one monster to the other.

"You think they're not dead?"

"You just looked really hot doing that."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Buffy nodded.

"Run." Angel grabbed Buffy's hand and they ran out of the room. Buffy grabbed the sword from one of the monsters as they headed out. They rounded a corner and found Fred, Gunn, and Cordy standing from behind a crate.

"You guys alright?" Angel asked.

"Charles got stabbed." Fred said.

"Yeah. A couple stitches worth." Gunn said as Cordy checked his wound out.

"The same guys attacked us." Buffy said.

"Any idea where we are or what the hell?"

"Yeah. Buffy and I hit kind of a mystical hotspot back in one of the dressing rooms." Angel said.

"Well, it seems the prima ballerina had a lover back in the day. And there was this Count Kurskov, who owned the company, and I guess he had a thing for the girl and they were mightily afraid of him." Buffy said.

"He had powers of some kind."

"He was a wizard." Wesley said. The all turned to find him standing on the threshold of one of the corridors archways, a sword carried loosely by his side. "He was obsessed with the girl. When he found her with the other man, he went insane with jealous rage, pulled her out of time out of any reality beyond his theater, his company. He swore she would dance for him forever."

"How do you…" Cordy asked.

"I, uh, I hit a hot spot too."

"And now we're stuck here?" Gunn asked.

"Well, ah, this kind of temporal shift can't just exist. It has to be maintained. That requires power and concentration. If we can overload him somehow, we might be able to slip back to the real world."

"The man with the plan!"

"Well, I'd imagine THAT requires some energy." They all turned to where Wes was indicating to find one of the monsters slowly getting up, begin to shake, then split in two, one wearing a tragedy mask and sobbing, the other wearing a comedy mask and laughing. Angel grabbed them both in a headlock under each arm and broke both their necks. As soon as they hit the floor they started shivering and splitting, each into a new pair of theater minions.

"The more we kill, the more he makes." Fred said.

"Look!" Cordy said. For a moment the wall of the corridor wavered, revealing another reality behind it.

"And that is draining his energy. Angel, Buffy, try and find a way to the stage. The count will be watching." Wes said. Angel and Buffy started to walk away.

"I bet he has a box." Angel muttered under his breath and Buffy smacked him for saying it. They walked for a little while, the walls flickered around them. Finally, Buffy got agitated and punched at one when it flickered. Her hand went through and she popped it right back against her side. Angel and Buffy looked at each other for a moment then turned back to the wall. The next time it flickered, they jumped through and landed in the wings off the stage. They saw the ballerina standing there, watching from just off stage, waiting, at the same time the ballerina also came dancing off the stage, her image shivering and dissolving as she passed from the view of the theater audience.

"Hello?" Buffy said. The ballerina whipped her head around to stare at them.

"Who are you? There's no one... You're new." She said in a Russian accent.

"I'm pretty old, actually." Angel said, slowly walking closer. "I've seen you dance."

"Everyone sees me."

"It was Giselle then, as well."

"Always." Buffy looked past the ballerina and saw Kurskov up in his box. Buffy grabbed Angel's arm and he looked at where she was staring.

"I know what's happening. Count Kurskov, he's punishing you." Buffy said.

"He made me. He owns me. And when I dance it is only for him." The ballerina said. Beside them, the air shivered as a row of dancers materialized and passed out onto the stage.

"Do you believe that?"

"It really doesn't matter. I'll dance. I'll wait here. And then I'll dance again. That's all."

"A hundred years doing the same piece every night. Is that enough? What about Stephan?"

"I waited too long. I should have gone when he asked me, I should have disappeared, but... I wanted this. This dance, this... I hesitated and... I lost everything that mattered. Now all I do is wait."

"You dance." Angel said.

"There is a section in the first act, during the courtship dance, where my foot slips. My ankle's turned and... and I don't quite hold every time. He doesn't notice. He doesn't even know ballet that well. But always, at that same moment, I slip. It isn't just the same ballet. It's the same performance. I don't dance. I echo. Please, can you make it stop?" Angel put his hand towards the stage and it vanished from view in mid-air.

"I can help you. But you have to do something."

"What?" the ballerina asked.

"Change the ending. Dance something new."

"I can't."

"He doesn't control all this. He's losing it. But you have to take the stage. It's not too late. You can change things." The ballerina looked from Buffy and Angel to the stage. She slowly stepped towards the stage, looking back at them once, then went out and began to dance around the lead dancer, lying stretched out in the middle of the stage, as the rest of the company left the stage. She raised her head from bowing down over the fallen body to look towards Buffy and Angel, waiting in the wings, then stepped back and struck a different pose. Up in his box, Kurskov jumped up out of his chair.

"No!" he yelled. As the ballerina began to dance again, the body of the lead dancer shivered and dissolved. The ballerina stopped, holding a pose, and looked up defiantly at Kurskov's box. Buffy and Angel ran out onto the stage and with two great leaps, landed in Kurskov's box. Angel grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him close.

"Hey, where is your power center?" Angel asked.

"How dare you!"

"I'll guess." Angel smashed the jewel in the center of the Russian cross- shaped medal hanging around Kurskov's neck. A wave of blue light raced out, washing over the ballerina on the stage, washing over the minions attacking the gang. Gunn stopped in mid-swing to look around as his sword, the minions and the corridor dissolved into a modern day back stage room. On the stage the ballerina looked up at Buffy and Angel. Buffy gave her a slight nod and she sank down, folding her body on top of her outstretched leg, in something like a deep bow, before she dissolved away.

"You have no right." Kurskov said.

"Oh, save it!" Buffy said.

"She was my love. She danced only for me!"

"Yeah. You love her that much?" Angel hauled back and clocked Kurskov on the chin, dropping him to the floor. "Start a website." Angel took Buffy's hand and they left the box.

…

Delia was pacing slowly in her and Liam's room. An expression of shock etched on her face. Liam was sitting on the bed, hunched over, looking at Delia. He had just told her his plan.

"This has to be the most risky, dangerous, and all around stupidest plan you have ever concocted." Delia said sounding angry.

"Hey, I don't like it either." Liam admitted.

"Then don't do it." Delia stopped her pacing and faced him.

"Del, if I don't Connor will be in danger for the rest of his life. It's the only way."

"There's always another way."

"Sometimes there isn't. I mean, isn't that the reason we came back. There wasn't another way."

"But we can find one for this."

"No we can't." Liam said louder and standing up. "Delia, I have to do this. I can't see any other way so that Connor can be saved."

"You can put him into hiding." Delia suggested.

"And he can live in isolation for 16 years. Just like how he did in our time."

"Liam, this is crazy."

"Last time I checked, we use to specialize in the ridiculous. That's how we had so many successful missions."

"But we aren't talking about a soldier here. We aren't talking about getting some mystical artifact from some Nazi sub in a base on an uncharted island. We are talking about your brother who is not even a year old now."

"I realize that. And even if everything else fails, Connor won't be sent to Quor' toth. That's really all that I can truly give him now."

"But you are still risking everything."

"Then it's a risk I'll have to take." Liam said determinedly. The both of them were standing inches apart from one another, not saying a word but looking into each other's eyes with icy glares. "This has to be done Delia." After a beat.

"But how do you expect for us to handle what will come afterwards? You know what happened the last time any of us dealt with it. You know what happened the last time I dealt with it." She had tears forming in her eyes. "I don't think I can go through that again."

"I have faith in you." Liam held Delia in his arms. "You will do what needs to be done. Just remember that I will always love you. No matter what." Delia sniffled.

"Fine." She relented. "I'll go through with it. But if this doesn't work, I will kill you."

"No worries. If it doesn't work, I'll be dead anyway." Delia rolled her eyes. There was a knock on the door. Liam moved to answer it. He opened it and the sight before him made him stare. "Whoa."

…

Later that night Wes was in his office, working on the wound in Gunn's back. After a particularly eventful time at the ballet, the A.I. team returned to hotel with some minor injuries sustained.

"We'll have to clean the wound. Do you want something for the pain?" Wes asked. Gunn looked at Fred sitting across from him.

"What pain?" Gunn responded. Fred smiled at Gunn. Angel was watching them out in the lobby. He turned away, a slight smile on his face as he walked to where Buffy sat on the settee. Cordy was brushing at her dress by the counter.

"Do you think I can still return it? Because otherwise we're gonna have to take on a lot more cases." Cordy said.

"Buffy?" Angel said. Buffy looked up at him.

"Yeah." She said.

"About what we did…"

"Save it. Angel, what we did….it's pretty much how we do it all the time." If Angel could, he would be blushing now. Buffy was kinda too.

"But – Now we have a baby together. We have a future together. I think that we, you know, we..."

"Groo?" Cordy asked.

"Well yeah. I was going to tell her that. Thanks Cor." Cordy ran past them, not listening.

"Groo!"

"Princess!" They all turned to see the Groosalug coming down the stairs and caught Cordy in a tight hug and swung her around.

"Oh god! I can't believe it." Cordy cried.

"I feared you'd forget who I was."

"Remind me." The two kissed. Lorne, Liam, and Delia came to stand next to Buffy and Angel, who were now standing and staring.

"He just showed up." Lorne explained. "Apparently once everyone in Pylea got their freedom, the political situation got a little sketchy. The Groosalug here got deposed and they set up some kind of People's Republic. So, he came looking for his true love."

"That's love for ya'." Liam said. "To go across dimensions and time to be with whom you are meant to be."

"Amen." Delia said entwining her hand with Liam's. "And doing what you must for those you truly love." She and Liam looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

"Huh. That's good for her." Angel said.

"Yeah." Lorne said. Buffy looked quizzical at Cordy and Groo.

"Who's Groo?" she asked.

**And that's the chapter. Liam has something brewing. It's bad. No one seems to like it. Can you guess what it is? I won't reveal anything until I post the appropriate chapters. I will try my best to post a chapter every few days now. Comment and Review. Anyone that can properly guess what Liam's plan is, or at least a part of it, will be allowed to give me an idea of what they want to have happen in future chapters and the sequel. It's only one idea though. I promise you that I will do my best to insert it. (FYI) you can't say that he's trying to save Connor from Quor' toth. I think that's already established. Guess what his plan is for preventing it. I will PM the first person who guessed right. **


	17. Normal Again

Chapter 17: Normal Again

**Ok. This chapter is Normal Again. This was an episode I kinda like because of the whole theory that none of what happens in Sunnydale is real. Kinda freaked me out first time I watched it. However I decided to add something into this that is sorta like that episode in 'Charmed' when Piper was in a mental institution. Funny how both this episode and that episode were in the same seasonal year. Anyway, onto the chapter. Enjoy.**

The Groosalug came back from Pylea and Cordy was really happy. Everyone seemed happy that she was happy. The only couple that wasn't happy seemed to be Xander and Anya. Buffy and Angel returned to Sunnydale without Liam and Delia to attend Xander and Anya's wedding. It was a complete disaster. After a fight with some demons, an ex-boyfriend of Anya's, and a couple of drunks form Xander's family, Xander left Anya at the altar. She was devastated, Xander was missing, and as soon as Liam heard, he knew he had some explaining to do.

…

Buffy walked through the darkened streets of Sunnydale with her husband thinking not about what they were doing, but about Xander. He had been gone a week now and no one had heard from him. Willow kept her hopes up that he would e- mail her and let them all know he was ok, but that was a no go. Buffy just prayed that he would come home soon and relieve some of this worried stress. She was also thinking about her son, the man from the future. The man that was supposed to know everything and warn them about things like what happened. But, no. He didn't.

Buffy looked over to Angel. He was concentrated on the houses they walked by looking for the number of one of the houses on the list he carried in his hands. Buffy turned her head forward and thought about Liam and Xander again. Angel turned his head and noticed Buffy's thoughtful expression.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Just thinking." Buffy replied.

"About what?"

"Liam." Angel and Buffy stopped and looked at each other. "It' been a week and he hasn't even come by to explain himself."

"He probably has future priorities." Angel said, defending his son.

"That's still no excuse for what he did. He should have warned us of the disastrous wedding and Xander skipping town. He should have told us."

"It probably happened in his time and he didn't want to change it for some reason."

"Then he should be here to tell us. Not let Xander and Anya go through what they're going through."

"I'm sure that he'll be here to explain himself when he has the time. But right now, let's find these nerds." He took Buffy's hand and led her up a driveway. They started to peek into windows that were darkened and dusty.

"I thought this place was rented out?" Buffy asked.

"According to the list it is." Angel said. Buffy sighed and left to find the back of the house. All she found was a dark alley with some trash and an abandoned car and a pickup truck. She was about to go back to Angel, but something dropped behind her and Buffy turned to face it. It was a demon.

"Oh, hi." Buffy said. The wax-like demon growled at her. "You didn't by chance happen to just eat a couple of nerds, did you?" The demon took a swing at her and she leaned back to avoid it. It swung again and then tried a roundhouse kick, which Buffy ducked underneath. She blocked a punch and punched it in the stomach, then kicked it back. The demon hit her and she went down. It grabbed her and threw her against the car. She landed on the hood, sat up, and kicked the demon with both feet. As it reeled back, she stood up on the hood. The demon went to punch her and she leapt up onto the car's roof. The demon punched the hood where she just been. It tried to hit Buffy's legs but she jumped up, crouched on the hood and kicked the demon again. She did a flip off the car onto the ground while kicking the demon again, and it went down. Buffy picked up a metal garbage can and slammed it down onto the demon. It got up as she raised the can for another blow. The demon shoved the garbage can out of Buffy's hands, and then hit her in the face. She spun around and ended up with her face pressed against the car window. The demon grabbed her from behind. She spun around again and hit it. The demon reeled backward. They traded kicks and the demon's head went through the car window, breaking it. A long thin bony spike suddenly shot out of its knuckle. The demon struggled with its head and shoulders still inside the car. Buffy grabbed it and it elbowed her off, turned around, and grabbed her. It held her tightly against its body. The demon raised its hand with the spike still sticking out of it. Buffy saw the spike for the first time and looked alarmed. The demon stabbed the spike into her shoulder just as Angel rounded the corner. Buffy screamed.

…

A warm light enveloped her and Buffy was struggling and screaming as two men tried to put a needle in her arm.

"You're gonna hurt yourself!" One of the men said to her.

"She's gonna break the needle." The other one said to the man talking to her. He withdrew the needle from her arm. "We're gonna have to strap her down!"

Buffy looked wide-eyed around the room and realized where she was. Her struggles started to stop as she stared more intently out the door's window and saw more people milling around out in a hallway. The man with the needle inserted it again and finished putting the fluid in her. Her eyes slowly closed and she was enveloped again with the warm light.

…

Angel held an unconscious Buffy in his arms. He had come running when he had heard sounds of a struggle coming from the alley and found Buffy pinned in the arms of a demon with a long spike jutting out of its hand. Before he could get to her, the demon had shoved the spike into her arm and dropped her to the ground, running away. Now he held her in his arms leaning against the car. She wasn't that heavy, even with the weight in front of her.

"Come on Buffy. Wake up." Angel said as he stroked her cheek and hair. Her eyes suddenly snapped open and she struggled to grab her arm. Angel let her and she looked around in confusion and pain. Her eyes finally focused on Angel and she nearly fell to the ground.

"Whoa!" He caught her. "I got ya. Don't worry."

"Angel?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, it's me. Are you ok?"

"Where..."

"Shh, let's just get you home ok? I wanna find out what that demon did to you. Can you walk?" Buffy shook her head a little to clear her brain and then nodded up at him. They walked off towards their house. Angel's arm around her waist to make sure she was ok. As soon as they were home, he put her to bed and curled up beside her. She laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around his stomach as she twined her legs with his. Buffy slept fitfully and Angel had a hard time trying to restrain her. Whatever this demon had done to her, it was affecting him too. He could feel that there was something wrong with her. They would figure it out soon enough.

…

The next day, Buffy stood in the kitchen watching the water run as she was doing the dishes. Dawn walked in and Buffy barely even registered that her sister was talking to her. Angel walked in and stared at Buffy. He was worried about her. She had said that she was fine last night, that it was just the shock of being stabbed that had made her weird. Now that he saw her watching the water run and not listening to Dawn, he knew something was up.

"Buffy?" Dawn asked. Buffy didn't look up at first. "Buffy?"

This time she did look up, but it wasn't to look at her sister and her husband.

…

Buffy was looking up at a doctor in a white doctor's coat.

"Come on, it's time for your drugs." The doctor said. Buffy started to breath heavy and stare harder at the doctor, but the white light took her over.

…

Buffy was staring at her sister again.

"What?" she asked.

"I said, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were on drugs." Dawn said as she headed out the door and went to school.

"Okay. Good." Angel walked up to her and put his hand to her forehead. She was her usual temperature.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Just dazed I guess."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Hey, look at the time. At was supposed to call Cordelia and see what's keeping Liam." Buffy walked out of the kitchen and went to the phone. Angel stared after her even more worried now that she was avoiding him. She just kept getting stranger. He needed to know what that demon had done to her.

…

Buffy walked down the stairs in an oversized beige turtleneck and comfortable jeans. She found Willow sitting at the table in front of her laptop and Tara leaning over her. Buffy walked in and sat down.

"What'cha doin'?" Buffy asked.

"I'm online, checking to see if Xander emailed." Willow said.

"Any luck?"

"No such." Tara said. "I also tried monitoring his credit cards to see if he made any purchases. Nothing."

"Well, maybe Anya found him and they're trying to work it out." Willow shrugged. "Or maybe not." Angel came in from the stairs holding Connor in is arms and went to stand next to Buffy.

"Do you guys have anything?" He asked.

"Like we told your wife, nothing." Willow said.

"Xander's a good guy. He'll come back and face what's happened." Buffy looked to Angel with a quizzical expression.

"That's probably the only time I have ever heard you say something nice about Xander."

"You say nothing to him about it." Angel warned. The doorbell rang and Xander walked in.

"Xander?" Willow asked.

"I'm back." He said.

"Xander?" Buffy asked.

"Xander." Tara said.

"Xander, you're here!" Angel said. Buffy, Willow, and Xander shared a huge group hug and then moved away to allow Tara to hug him. Xander and Angel gave each other a hug with Connor in it. "We missed you. Where were you?" Angel asked.

"I know. I tried calling, but I couldn't without..."

"Hey. You don't need to explain to us." Buffy said. They all moved back to the dining room. Willow, Tara, and Buffy taking their seats back up and Angel and Xander remained standing, Angel next to Buffy once again.

"Right. Is she here?"

"Oh, no...you wanna find her?" Willow asked.

"I need to. Her suitcase is gone and some of her stuff. There's a 'Closed' sign on the Magic Box, which, like, chills me to the bone."

"She left a couple of days ago." Tara said.

"Was she looking for me? Before she left, did she say anything?"

"You mean, between sobs? There was mostly just wheezing." Willow said.

"She was a little… She was... kinda broken." Buffy said.

"I don't know how stuff got so mixed up! I blew it." Xander said.

"No. Well… maybe it wasn't the best time to break up with her, but..."

"No. It wasn't about breaking up. I love her, and god, I miss her so much."

"So, you left her at the altar, but you still wanna..." Angel started.

"You still wanna date?" Buffy finished.

"I guess. I know that I'm a better person with her in my life. But things got so complicated with the wedding, and with my family, and with her… demons, and... what if it all goes to hell, a...and forever? But then I left… and ever since… I've had this painful hole inside. And I'm the idiot that dug it out. I screwed up real bad." Xander said.

"Hey, we all screw up." Xander just looked at Buffy.

"You'll get her back." Angel said.

"Yeah, well… there's not really an ancient prophecy that can force us back together." Xander said. "But there may have been a man you knew about it and didn't bother to tell us." He said coldly. The gang knew who he was talking about.

"Xander, I know that Liam has done questionable things. And we know that whatever he does is for the best interest of us."

"But he knew. He should've known and he could have stopped me from doing what I did. Or maybe even talk us out of it so that we wouldn't had to go through what happened."

"He probably has his reasons Xander." Buffy said.

"I'm with Xander." Tara said. "Liam should have told us."

"He shouldn't have kept something this big from us." Willow said.

"I'm not saying that what he did was right…" Buffy said. "All I'm saying is that we shouldn't shift blame until there's a reason to shift." Xander didn't look any better. The front door opened and everyone turned their heads to the new arrival. It was Liam. Liam stopped once he saw Xander. Xander looked angry. Liam looked like he was about to say something, but Xander rushed at him. Liam didn't have time to defend himself as Xander grabbed him and slammed him on to the dining room table. Connor started to cry and Angel left the fight to put him in his crib. Xander and Liam fought with Xander apparently winning. Due to Liam not even trying.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Xander asked as he threw a punch and it connected with Liam's face.

"Xander." Buffy said and tried to pry him off of Liam, but Xander pulled back his fist and his elbow hit Buffy. Liam grabbed Xander and forced him off of him. Liam straightened up a Xander went for another punch. Liam was ready. Liam blocked the punch, snaked his arm around Xander's, drove Xander into the wall and had his arm behind his back, restraining him.

"Let me go." Xander demanded.

"Not until you calm down." Liam said.

"I don't wanna calm down. I wanna know why you didn't tell me about the wedding. Why didn't say that it wasn't going to happen?"

"Because it wasn't important." Liam said and let Xander go. Xander felt his arm and stared at Liam.

"It wasn't important? You didn't think that me running out on my wedding and leaving Anya at the altar wasn't important enough to say?"

"Xander you weren't ready to get married. I wasn't when I was married. Then again it happened spontaneously."

"What's your point?" Xander asked sounding angrier.

"My point is that you weren't ready _now_." Liam stressed the last word. Xander looked confused. "You aren't ready now….but some time down the road, yeah." Everyone left in the room stared at Liam and what he just said.

"Are you….Are you...saying….that eventually….."

"Yes. You will. I didn't tell you, for the same reasons why I can't give you guys everything you need to fight the next apocalypse. You need to discover things on your own if you are ever to be the heroes in my time." Xander looked down looking chastised. "And you are one of the best." Xander looked back up surprised.

"What?"

"You heard me. You're one of the best. Not because you have strength, speed, senses, powers, or anything. You are the best, because you have nothing, face everything we face every day, and still crack a joke at the end of it. You're the best because you don't have cheats. You just have you." Now it was everyone's turn to be surprised. Xander was a true hero in the future and he had no special power to help him.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes. Xander, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but there are something's about the future that I need to stay the same. And that unfortunately means that some bad things have to happen in this time." Xander looked down looking chastised again. He understood. Not everything can be like how you want it to be. "It really sucks and I wish that I didn't have to do it….but I gotta."

"I get it." Xander said looking at Liam. "I do. I guess I just expected for you to tell us every bad thing so that we can fix it."

"I wish I could. But I can't." Xander and Liam looked at each other before enveloping themselves in a hug. "I'm sorry Uncle Xander."

"Uncle Xander." Xander Chuckled. "Gonna be a while before I get use to that."

"Just work on being Xander right now." Xander nodded his head.

…

Buffy and Angel walked hand in hand through the graveyard. The talk with Xander earlier that afternoon hadn't been the best reunion in the world, especially after Liam's arrival. But at least Liam was able to soothe things over. Angel was still worried about Buffy however. She was still avoiding him every time he brought up the demon that had stabbed her.

"You lookin' for me?" Spike said behind them.

"Really not." Buffy shot back. She and Angel kept walking.

"Oh. Right then. Off you go. Did you cry?" Buffy stopped, pulling Angel with her.

"What?"

"The wedding. Two hearts joined for eternity, great pelting showers of rice and so forth."

"You didn't hear." She looked at Angel and walked back towards Spike.

"What? Families get out of hand? Tear the place apart?"

"No. Well, yes, absolutely. But... Xander left. The wedding didn't happen." Spike sat down shocked.

"Well. Gotta say... I didn't see that coming."

"It was awful. Anya was devastated." Angel said as Buffy sat down next to Spike.

"Is that right?"

"And, Xander... thinks maybe they can still get back together, but... he hurt her a lot." Buffy said, looking slightly at Angel. She sort of knew how Anya felt.

"Yeah, well… some people can't see a good thing when they've got it." Xander, Willow, and Liam walked up to them.

"Spike." Xander said. "I shoulda known you'd be tagging along."

"Hey, guys. I, uh... I was just…uh. We were just bumped into Spike and started talking." Buffy said.

"How you doin' Uncle Spike?" Liam asked.

"Alright. Faith's good too." Spike responded.

"Tell I said 'hi'."

"I will. Tell you what, Slayer. Let me get out of your way. I'll stop bothering you. I got a slayer of my very own waiting somewhere for me." Spike said.

"Yeah, maybe you should do that, Spike, just run along." Xander said.

"You know, I guess you know all about that, don't you? The king of the big exit. Heard it brought the house down."

"I don't need this crap from you."

"Right. Let's not listen to Spike. Might get a bit of the truth on you."

"Okay, okay. Hey. Calm now. Let's, uh, turn around and release this very manly thing the other way." Willow said trying to step between them. The two wouldn't budge and Angel and Liam came over to help pry the two men apart.

"I forgot. Willy Wannabite can't hurt me. Dumb to pick a fight, I guess." Xander said.

"Xander." Angel warned.

"That's enough." Liam said. Buffy watched as a wave of dizziness grabbed her and she sank to her knees.

"Guys..." She said but no one heard her.

"More than happy to beat you right through the pain, you pathetic poof." Spike said. Xander punched Spike in the face and Spike went down. Buffy managed to get up on the stone bench.

"Guys..don't"

Suddenly that warm light washed over her again.

…

Buffy was back in the mental institution. A man stood in front of her.

"Buffy, can you hear me?" the man asked. He was in a doctor's coat.

"What is this?" Buffy asked. She was curled up in the corner again.

"Do you know where you are Buffy?"

"Sunnydale?" she asked, confused.

"No, none of that's real, none of it. You're in a mental institution. You've been with us now for six years. Do you remember?" Buffy frowned in extreme confusion and lifted her head again to look at the doctor. The bed with the restraints was still there. The light came again.

…

Buffy was back in the graveyard. Spike knocked over his groceries as he continued to fall from Xander's punch. Angel and Liam noticed Buffy as soon as Spike wasn't there to block their view of her. They rushed over to her and held her up.

"Mom? Mom?" Liam said.

"Buffy? Are you ok?" Angel asked.

"What happened?" Willow asked. Buffy tried to say something, but the light came again.

…

The doctor was back in front of her instead of Angel. He reached out to touch her, but she jerked and tried to shove herself further into the corner. Out of pure panicked confusion, she turned her head and slammed it continuously against the wall.

"It's ok Buffy. Buffy, it's ok." The doctor said. He turned his head to look at someone behind him.

"Buffy?" Joyce's loving voice asked. Buffy stared at her in amazement as Joyce came forward and crouched down to bring herself to Buffy's level. Hank stood behind her leaning down with hands on his knees.

"Welcome home sweetie." Joyce said.

"Mom?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, baby, you're really here."

"Dad?"

"She's lucid. Keep talking, maybe the sound of your voice will ground her." The doctor said.

"Sweetheart... we've missed you very much. Honey, can you hear me?" Hank asked. Buffy started to cry. She laid her head in her hands and tried to lean forward.

"Oh, Buffy, stay with us, please." Joyce said. The light came again.

…

Buffy was hunched over, head in her hands and leaning into Angel.

"Oh… No" Buffy said.

"Here, let's get her back to my crypt." Spike said. "It's just over here."

"Not suitable." Liam said. "We need to get her back to the house." Angel and Willow helped Buffy to stand.

"No guys, I'm ok. I'm ok." Buffy said.

"Come on, Willow, help me get her home." Angel said. They walked off and left Spike to fend for himself.

…

When they got home, Willow went and got a glass of water as Xander and Dawn sat on the couch and Buffy sat in the chair facing them. Angel sat on a chair next to her and held her hand. Liam leaned on the wall as he usually did. Willow came back in and handed Buffy the water and then sat next to Xander on the couch.

"I've been having these flashes. Hallucinations, I guess." Buffy said.

"Since when?" Willow asked.

"Uh… The night before last." She looked at Angel. "We were, uh, checking houses on that list you gave me, Will, and looking for Warren and his pals… and then, bam! Some kind of gross, waxy demon-thing poked me."

"And when you say poke…" Xander asked.

"In the arm. It stung me or something, and… then I was like... no. It... it wasn't 'like.' I was in an institution. There were, um... doctors and... nurses and... and other patients. They… they told me that I was sick. I guess crazy. And that, um, Sunnydale and... and all of this, it... none of it… was real."

"Oh, come on, that's ridiculous! What? You think this isn't real just because of all the vampires and demons and ex-vengeance demons and a vampire with a soul and the son from the future and the sister that used to be a big ball of universe- destroying energy?" Xander asked, then he frowned.

"I know how this must sound, but... it felt so real. Mom was there."

"She was?" Dawn asked.

"Dad, too. They were together... like they used to be… before Sunnydale." Angel wrapped his arm around Buffy and she shifted so she could lay her head on his shoulder.

"Okay! All in favor of research?" Willow asked as she stood. Xander raised his hand. "Motion passed. All right, Xander, you hit the demon bars. Dig up any info on a new player in town. Dawnie, you can help me research. We'll hop on-line, check all the..." Buffy didn't hear the rest. The light came again.

…

Buffy was sitting in a chair, facing the doctor.

"...possibilities for a full recovery, but we have to proceed cautiously. If we're not careful..." The doctor started. Joyce cut him off.

"Wait. Are you saying that Buffy could be like she was before any of this happened?" Joyce and Hank were in chairs next to her. Buffy's chair was a little separated from them however. She drew her knees up to her chest.

"Mrs. Summers, you have to understand the severity of what's happened to your daughter. For the last six years, she's been in an undifferentiated type of schizophrenia."

"We know what her condition is. That's not what we're asking." Hank said.

"Buffy's delusions are multi-layered. She believes she's some type of hero."

"The slayer?" Joyce asked.

"The Slayer, right, but that's only one level. She's also created an intricate latticework to support her primary delusion. In her mind, she's the central figure in a fantastic world beyond imagination. She's surrounded herself with friends, most with their own superpowers… who are as real to her as you or me. More so, unfortunately. Together they face... grand overblown conflicts against an assortment of monsters both imaginary and rooted in actual myth. Every time we think we're getting through to her, more fanciful enemies magically appear..."

"How did I miss..." Buffy said to herself.

"...and she's…"

"Warren and Jonathan, they did this to me!" Buffy tried to scramble out of her seat, but the doctor stopped her.

"Buffy, it's all right. They can't hurt you here. You're with your family."

"Angel?"

"The husband. The uh... The vampire with the soul?" Hank asked.

"Liam? Connor?"

"The sons. One's hers and the other one from the future?"

"Dawn?"

"That's the sister right?" Joyce asked.

"A magical key. Buffy inserted Dawn into her delusion, actually rewriting the entire history of it to accommodate a need for a familial bond. Buffy, but that created inconsistencies, didn't it? Your sister, your friends, all of those people you created in Sunnydale, they aren't as comforting as they once were. Are they? They're coming apart. The only ones that we really need to worry about holding her back are Angel, Liam, and Connor. She truly believes that she loves this vampire and has a son with him and will eventually have Liam. Since in her world he is from the future and came back to mend the bond she had with Angel." Buffy whimpered at the sound of her family being denounced like that and she lowered her head to try to block it all out.

"Buffy, listen to what the doctor's saying, it's important." Joyce said.

"Buffy, you used to create these grand villains to battle against, including your Angel and children. And now what is it? Just ordinary students you went to high school with. No gods or monsters… just three pathetic little men who like playing with toys." The doctor said.

Buffy stared at him in anger. She loved Angel. She has children with him. Their dreams were finally coming true and this doctor was saying it wasn't real. Buffy sat back in her chair. The light came again.

…

She was back in Angel's arms.

"Buffy?" Angel asked.

Buffy shook her head and bolted out of the chair. She went to the couch and sat down. Angel looked at her as she picked up a picture of her, her mother, and her father. Joyce was sitting in a swing with Buffy in her lap while Hank stood behind them, peering through the chains of the swing. As she stared at the picture, Angel came over and squeezed into the space between Buffy and the arm of the couch. Buffy laid her head on his shoulder again as she continued to stare at the picture. Liam came up to her.

"Mom?" He asked. She didn't look at him. She continued to stare at the picture. After a while, Willow came in. She carried a piece of paper in her hand.

"Look, Buffy, I found the demon. Fits your and Angel's description and symptoms perfectly." Buffy looked pensive as she put down the photo and looked at the picture of the demon. "Look, is this it?" Willow asked. "See, it's gonna be okay. Its pokey stinger carries an antidote to its own poison."

"I feel so lost." Buffy said quietly.

"I know. You're confused. It's, it's that crazy juice inside you."

"It's more than that. Even before the demon… I've been so detached."

"We've all been kind of slumming."

"Every day I try to snap out of it. Figure out why I'm like that."

"Buffy, look at me." Buffy looked at Willow. "You are not in an institution. You have never been in an institution." Buffy paused and looked up at Angel. He was frowning. He knew the truth. He had been there the whole time. She looked back down at the picture in her lap and then whispered.

"Yes I have."

"What?"

"Back in LA. Back when she saw her first vampires." Angel said.

"What happened?" Liam asked. "I never heard of that."

"I got so scared. I told my parents and they completely freaked out. They thought there was something seriously wrong with me. So they sent me to a clinic." Buffy said.

"You never said anything." Willow said, shocked.

"I was only there a couple of weeks. I stopped talking about it, and they let me go. Eventually my parents just... forgot."

"God, that's horrible." Buffy started to sob and Angel pulled her closer into him.

"What if I'm still there? What if I never left that clinic?"

"Buffy... Buffy, you're not. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. But, i… it's the past. You've got to trust me. We're gonna get you that antidote. Xander's hunting the demon right now."

"Alone? Will, he can't. It's too strong."

"Oh, it's ok. We got help."

"Who?"

"Spike."

"Spike?"

"And Faith."

"Why didn't you ask Angel or Liam?"

"You were sleeping. Willow came in to ask, but I told her to send Spike and Faith. I wanted to stay here and take care of you." Angel said.

"Oh."

"So did I." Liam said. "I'm not leaving you mom."

"Come on. Let's get you into bed. You'll be more comfortable." Angel offered.

"Ok."

"I'll go check on Connor." Liam said. Angel helped Buffy up and led her upstairs. She went to her bed and curled up by her nightstand. Liam came in and gathered up Connor from his crib and left with him in his arms. Angel went to his side of the bed and sat next to her, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. Buffy stared off into space. Angel supposed that she was just really confused and wanted to find a place where she could just hide. After a while, Buffy leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder again and he held her tight. If this wasn't real, she was going to be crushed. Angel was still the one freaky thing in her whole freaky world that still made sense. But right now, that world was being shattered because of the possibility that it didn't exist. Dawn came into the room carrying a warm mug.

"I made you some tea." She said. Buffy didn't look at her. Her mind was still in space.

"Thanks." Buffy said. Dawn put the mug on the table. "I'm ok Dawn."

"The, uh, thousand-yard stare really helps sell that." Buffy didn't respond. Angel shifted slightly and noticed that her temperature had risen. He raised his hand and felt her forehead and cheek.

"You're burning up." He said.

"I should be taller than you." Buffy said to Dawn.

"Maybe you're not done growing." Dawn replied.

"Coming apart."

"What's coming apart?"

"We have to try harder, make things better."

"I'm trying."

"Your grades... stealing. Willow's been doing your chores, hasn't she?"

"What? No, i...it's… it's the fever. It's cooking your brain. I've never stolen anything. And my grades are up." Buffy leaned forward and grabbed Dawn's arm. "We have to deal with these things, Dawn, we..." Angel pulled her back as the light came again.

…

Joyce was sitting in front of her.

"You don't have a sister, Buffy." Joyce told her.

"Dawn?" Buffy asked, looking around in terrified confusion. Her dad was sitting in a chair at the foot of the bed, looking at her and Joyce.

"No honey. Say it. It'll help you believe it."

"I... don't… have a sister. I know I... I didn't grow up with her. These monks, they... they made her."

"It's your mind, just playing tricks on you." Hank said.

"You're our little girl, Buffy. Our one and only. We've missed you so much. Mom and Dad just want to take you home and take care of you." Joyce said. She put her hand on Buffy's cheek and Buffy reached out to touch her mother's. The light came again.

…

She was stroking Dawn's cheek. Startled, Buffy jerked away.

"I'm not even there, am I?" Dawn asked.

"What?" Buffy squeezed her eyes shut and then forced them open.

"You said it a second ago. You don't have a sister." Dawn stood up. "It's your ideal reality, and I'm not even a part of it."

"Dawn, I... I didn't mean…"

"I have to go finish my chores." Dawn said, running from the room. Buffy started to cry. Angel pulled her to him and let her sob. "I didn't mean… It's not my ideal reality. I want… I need... Mommy."

"Shh, love. It'll be ok. I'm right here." Angel said softly. "Sleep now." She did just that. Buffy laid her head on his broad shoulder and slept. It wasn't peaceful for her, that he knew. But at least she wasn't thrashing like she had. Angel didn't sleep that night, just like the night before. He was too worried about Buffy and Connor's safety.

…

A little bit later in the day, Willow entered the room with a mug.

"Buffy, wake up." Angel said. Willow walked up to them.

"Got yummy antidote goodness for you."

"What happened?" Buffy asked. Willow gave her the mug.

"It took a little longer than I'd hoped. No magic and all. Went boom twice, but then I got it. Just... when it's cool, drink it all down, and... everything should go back to normal."

"You never stop coming through. Thank you, Willow." Willow smiled and walked to the door. Liam appeared there.

"Buffy, I'm going to help Willow ok?" Angel said. She looked at him blankly. He kissed her unresponsive lips and went to Willow at the door.

"How is she?" Liam asked.

"Make sure she drinks all that. I'm going with Willow to let Dawn know that everything's gonna be okay." The two left and Liam walked further into Buffy's room.

"You all right?" he asked her. Buffy didn't answer right away. "You should drink that."

"I know." Buffy finally said. "It's just….I…"

"You don't need to say anything." Liam sat on the bed. "I kinda know what you're going through." Buffy looked to him. "We live in a world that boring people wished they would be a part of. To be something other than who they really are. But for those who are already in this world, they want out. I wanted it many times over in the future. Hell, I even tried to make it so with Delia and me."

"What stopped you?"

"I knew my place in this world. And that's where this comes in." He pointed to the mug in Buffy's hands. "Willow gave you that mug about two minutes ago and you haven't taken one sip of it. You're conflicted. You don't know where it is you want to be. With us, or with your mom. With the demons and the fighting, or in a world where they don't exist and you can have that normal life we all crave." Buffy looked down at the mug in her hands. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, mom. But I am going to tell you this…..no matter where you are, there will always be a place for you and people who love you." Liam kissed Buffy's forehead and left. Buffy stared after him. He was right. A part of her knew that. She made an anguished face and held the mug up. She paused, then brought the mug up to her lips, then paused again. She stared off in front of her, pondering. Then, slowly, she turned and held out the mug. Buffy tipped it over and let the contents pour out into the trash basket. Putting the mug on her night table, she let the light come back over her.

…

Buffy was sitting on her bed in the mental institution.

"Buffy." The doctor said to her. She looked at him tearfully.

"I don't wanna go back there." She said. "I wanna be healthy again. What do I have to do?" Buffy looked at her mom. "Oh… please, help me. I...I wanna go home, with you and dad."

"I know, Buffy. But first you've gotta get better." Joyce said.

"It's not gonna be easy, Buffy. You have to take it one step at a time. You have to start ridding your mind of those things that support your hallucinations. You understand? There are things in that world that you cling to. For your delusion, they're safe-holds, but for your mind they're traps. We have to break those down." The doctor told her.

"Slaying?" Buffy asked.

"Yes... but I'm talking about those things you want there. What keeps you going back."

"My friends. Angel? Connor? Liam?"

"That's right."

"They're not really your friends, Buffy. They're just... tricks keeping you from getting healthy." Joyce said. "You have to do whatever it takes to convince yourself of that, Buffy. Whatever it takes." Buffy stared off again as the light came back.

…

Buffy was sitting on her bed in Sunnydale. She got up from her bed and walked downstairs to find everyone. Entering the living room, she bumped into Willow and Angel.

"Oh, Buffy, I… I didn't see you. We were just coming to check on you. You feeling better? Did the antidote work?" Willow asked.

"I'm… still pretty dazed, but, uh, better." Buffy replied.

"No more cuckoo's nest? Well, we still have the big bad all tranked out down in the basement. In case it didn't work and we need more parts."

"It'll be nice to see you all better." Angel said.

"Thanks." Buffy said.

"I can make you some food, something big with energy, help you clear your head. Come on." Angel took her hand and led her into the kitchen. "Oh, I'll be right back. I need to get something from the car."

Angel left Willow and Buffy standing in the kitchen. Willow turned to watch him go, leaving her back open to Buffy. Which was when the blonde attacked. She slammed Willow on the back and sent her face first into the wall, knocking her out. Moving swiftly, Buffy grabbed some duct tape and wrapped Willow's feet and hands together. She took a small strip and placed it over Willow's mouth. Then, Buffy dragged the former witch down into the basement and left her. By the time Buffy got back upstairs, Angel was coming back in.

"Hey Buffy, where'd Willow go?" Angel asked.

"Oh, um, I think she said she needed to use the bathroom." Buffy answered.

"Ok." He looked at her funny. "Well, let's get to work on that brunch, huh?"

"Yeah." He started to gather things up to make the brunch and Buffy watched him. Angel put a frying pan on the stove, but didn't turn it on. He turned to the sink and started to peel something over it, leaving his back open to Buffy. Silently, she slipped over and grabbed the pan. His back was still turned as she crept up behind him and raised the frying pan. Sensing her, he turned around just in time to have Buffy slam the pan onto his cheek. He went flying back into the counter and landed hard on the floor. He wasn't completely out of it and was able to stand up and ward off the next blow.

"Buffy! Stop." Angel said. He pried the pan out of her grasp and tossed it aside with a loud clang. She didn't stop though. Buffy threw punch after punch at Angel. He dodged a lot of them, but she was too quick. More blows landed on him than he could count and eventually, she got in one really good one and he was down. Quickly, she dragged him downstairs and tied him to a post with a thick rope. He was still out as she went upstairs and straightened up the mess in the kitchen. Liam came into the kitchen and saw Buffy.

"Hey mom." He greeted her with a smile. "The antidote work?"

"Still feeling the after affects." Buffy said not turning to him."

"Well, so long as you are back to where you belong."

"Yeah….so long as I'm back where I belong." She whispered. Liam didn't completely hear her.

"What was that?" he asked as he stepped close to her. As soon as he was directly behind her, back-fisted him full in the face. Like his father, he wasn't down completely. While he was disoriented from Buffy's punch, Buffy grabbed Liam's head and slammed him hard on her knee. He fell back and landed with a thud on the floor. Buffy dragged him to the basement with Willow and Angel and bound Liam's arms and legs with thick rope. She went back upstairs to the kitchen and the light came back.

…

Buffy was in the corner now. Joyce sat on the bed and stared at her. Hank was not there at the moment, but Buffy knew that he was still near. The light came back again.

…

Buffy was standing at the sink staring at the frying pan she had hit Angel with.

"Hello! I'm back! Clean and with the better smell now. Friends? Romans? Anyone?" Xander called. He came into the kitchen and saw Buffy standing at the sink. "Hey." She didn't respond. "Hey, there, sane girl. So did Willow get that antidote to you all right?"

"Yeah. I'm better now."

"Great. So, it's settled. We're, uh, we're real, right? Guess we should finish off that demon and drag it out of the basement. And tell me you're up for that. I so don't wanna see Spike right now. I mean, talk about losing touch. Hate to say it, but I almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost. The things the poor guy was saying... I mean, I get it, you know. Been fighting with Faith a lot and..." Xander didn't get to finish. Buffy hit him in the face with the frying pan. He reeled back. Buffy dropped the pan, grabbed Xander and threw him against the kitchen island, her hands on his neck. "B...Buffy!" Xander gasped. She pulled him up again and hit him a couple of times. He went down. Buffy dragged him down the stairs and tossed him on the floor. Xander lifted his head and saw Angel attached to a pole, Willow bound and gagged on the floor, and Liam unconscious also bound.

"Willow? Angel. Liam..." Xander managed before he passed out. Buffy tied Xander up and left to get Connor. She walked up the steps to the second floor. She peered into her room and saw the sleeping Connor in his crib. Buffy picked up Connor and carried him down to the basement. She placed Connor on the floor beside Xander and went back upstairs. She stopped at the stairs.

"Dawn?" she called up. No one answered. Buffy went up the stairs and opened Dawn's door. The younger Summers was packing a bag.

"Don't you knock?" Dawn asked.

"I called for you." Buffy said.

"Buffy, are you ok?"

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going over to Janice's, where they actually like having me around."

"You're not going anywhere."

"Why not? You want me gone anyway. What do you care?"

"I care. You're going downstairs with the others. It's the only way I can get healthy." Dawn started to back away as Buffy stepped toward her.

"What are you talking about? Buffy, you look sick. What are you doing? What's wrong with you?" Buffy tried to grab Dawn, but she jumped away. "Stay away from me!" She started to run, screaming, "Willow, help!" She ran into Willow's room and shut the door. "Buffy, please!" Buffy walked slowly down the hall.

"You can't hide Dawn."

"Talk to me. You're hallucinating."

"I know. You're just a trap for my mind."

"Buffy, please, listen to me. That asylum and those people, they're not real!" Buffy frowned and kicked the door open. Dawn was nowhere to be found. Buffy turned around and walked to Willow's door. Dawn gasped in surprise as Buffy stopped and stared. "Buffy… look at me. I'm right here. You're my sister. I need you and love you. Somewhere inside you must know that's real."

"Sure it is…'Cause what's more real? A sick girl in an institution..."

"Don't. Please. Listen to me."

"Or some kind of super girl… chosen to… fight demons and… save the world. That's ridiculous." Dawn quickly grabbed the door and slammed it in Buffy's face. Buffy kicked it open again. Dawn screamed and jumped back. "A girl that marries a vampire that she should have killed a long time ago and has a baby with him? A son that came back from the future saying that she is meant to save it? Yeah, that makes sense." Dawn tried to run around the bed but Buffy rolled across it and wound up in front of Dawn. She grabbed Dawn by the arms and shoved her up against a dresser, then onto the floor. Dawn struggled as Buffy straddled her and pinned her down.

"No! Buffy, stop! I'm real!" Dawn screamed. Buffy pulled the phone chord from the dresser and bound Dawn's wrists and feet with it. Then she practically carried a screaming Dawn down to the kitchen. "Buffy! Please! No!" Buffy dragged Dawn down the steps. She dropped Dawn to the floor. "Buffy, stop it. I'll be good! I promise. You're not thinking. I'll..." Dawn cried. Buffy put a piece of duct tape over her mouth and left her squirming on the floor, squealing and whining. The light came again.

…

Buffy was back in her hospital room.

"It's ok Buffy, don't stress yourself." The doctor said.

"Honey, take your time." Joyce said.

"Make it as easy on yourself as possible. There's nothing wrong with that." Buffy nodded and allowed the light to take her over again.

…

Buffy was back to the basement. She looked over at Angel who was just now coming around. His eyes widened as he saw the knife clutched in her hand.

"Buffy, what are you doing?" Angel asked. She walked past him and went behind the demon. Liam stirred awake and realied the situation. He looked to Angel.

"Dad?"

"Buffy knocked us all out. She didn't take the antidote." Liam looked to the others and aw Connor. His eyes widened.

"Oh god." He whispered. Angel saw Connor too and had the same expression. Buffy reached out and undid the chains holding the demon. Angel started to struggle with the rope that held him, but he wasn't able to budge them. She just stood and watched as the demon advanced. Liam tried to undo his ropes but to no avail. He then started searching for something on his back.

"Buffy, help me! I need my hands!" Angel said. Buffy backed into the little alcove under the stairs and watched anxiously as Angel fought with his legs against the demon. Liam was busy searching and found what he was looking for. He always carried a concealed knife on him where ever he went. Thank god for his training. He then started undoing the rope. The demon grabbed Angel's shoulder and pulled, hard enough to break the ropes binding him. It threw him across the room. He slammed into a refrigerator and fell down. The light came again.

…

Joyce was calling Buffy's name.

"Buffy?" she said. Buffy jumped off the bed, whimpering. She ran over to the corner and pressed herself into it, twitching and whimpering. Joyce looked concerned and walked towards her.

"I...It's gonna be okay, sweetheart. Whatever it is, it's not real, remember? Just keep concentrating. I'm right here, sweetie." Buffy slid down the wall as the light came back.

…

"Buffy! Help me!" Angel said. He was trying to stand back up, but the demon kept knocking him down. "Buffy, help!"

"Willow?" Tara called from the top of the steps. Buffy looked up in surprise as Tara came partway down the stairs and peered down. Willow tried to call to Tara through her gag.

"Eximete!" Tara said. The bonds on Willow, Dawn, Xander, and Liam disappear and they all sat up.

"About time." Liam commented.

"Vis zenobia! S..solvere!" The metal shelf went flying into the demon and knocked it back. Tara started to walk down the steps, but Buffy reached up and grabbed her ankle. She flew forward down the steps.

"No! Tara!" Willow cried. The light came again.

…

Buffy was in the corner, Joyce was crouching in front of her.

"I don't know..." Buffy said.

"Buffy, look at me."

"I don't know. I don't know."

"I believe in you. You're a survivor, you can do this."

Buffy was so conflicted. The light came again.

…

Buffy was back in the basement. The gang was fighting the demon. Dawn held Connor in her arms protectively. Liam got to his feet, rushed past the fight, and slid on the floor to Buffy. Buffy didn't react quickly enough as Liam plunged his knife into Buffy's chest. The light came back.

…

Buffy was in the corner again. Liam materialized out of nowhere. Buffy starred at him in shock. Joyce reeled back and gasped as Liam appeared. Hank and the doctor looked stunned.

"Wh…what?" Joyce said. Buffy looked to her parents then back at Liam who was now crouching before her. Liam looked behind him at Hank and Joyce and the doctor. He gave them an icy glare before turning back to Buffy.

"This isn't real mom." He said. "None of this is real. It's all in your head. I know that this is what you truly want. It's what we all want." Buffy continued to stare at her son that was now in her normal world. "And it's possible to get back in the real world. Like everything else, it's going to take time and work. It's hard and it sucks but that's life no matter where you are. You're too good to give in, you can beat this thing. Be strong, ok? I know you're afraid. I know the world feels like a hard place sometimes, but you've got people who love you. Dad, me, Connor, the Scooby's, the A.I. team, everyone. We have all the faith in the world in you. We'll always be with you." Buffy started to calm down as the words that liam was saying sunk in. "You've got... a world of strength in your heart. I know you do. You just have to find it again. Believe in yourself." Buffy turned her head to look at her mother.

"I love you. Good bye." Buffy looked away.

"Buffy!?" Joyce called. The light washed over her a final time.

…

Liam withdrew the knife from Buffy's chest. Buffy looked down and saw no wound. She looked to her adult son.

"Demon's gonna kill Connor." Liam informed her. "Watcha gonna do?" Buffy looked to the demon fighting Angel. She walked forward, kicked the demon in the chest, hit it, and shoved it against the wall. She punched it, threw it into the washer/dryer, walked over to it, and punched it so hard her hand went into its chest. The demon fell down, dead. Buffy stood there with her hand covered in its slimy gray blood. Dawn was huddled by the refrigerator with Connor in her amrs, Xander picked himself up, Willow and Tara were helping each other up, and Angel and Liam stood just behind Buffy. They all stared at her.

"I'm so sorry." Buffy whispered.

"Buffy? We're okay. It's all okay." Angel said. Buffy stumbled forwards as she tried to grab onto him. "Buffy, sit down. You'll fall over."

"No… I can't. Not until I have the antidote."

"Okay. We...we'll make more, we'll take care of it." Willow said.

"And this time we'll make sure you drink it." Liam said. "We'll even bound you like you did us and force it down your throat."

"Everything's gonna be okay." Angel said, stroking her hair.

…

An hour later, Willow came into Buffy's room and gave Buffy another mug of the antidote. She thanked Willow as the red head left and then looked at Angel who was in bed with her. Dawn was sitting on the floor holding Connor and Liam was leaning on the wall. She scowled at the thick, dark liquid, plugged her nose, and drank in one swig. She made a disgusted face that made everyone snicker at.

"God, that was nasty!" Buffy said.

"At least you're back to normal. Right?" Dawn asked hopefully.

"Yeah. I should be." Buffy looked at Dawn apologetically. "I'm so….so sorry. I don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose any of you." She looked to her family. "I was just….I don't know what I was."

"Scared." Liam said and walked over and sat on Buffy's other side. "Conflicted. Relieved. You believed that you finally were able to do everything that you could do with the duties of the slayer to hold you back. So you tried to make it a reality."

"But I nearly got you all killed. Oh god I nearly got my son killed who isn't even six months old. I'm a horrible mother." She cried.

"No Buffy." Dawn said and stood up and sat on the bed in front of Buffy with Connor. "You're not a horrible mother and you're not a bad sister. You were drugged. Out of it. You weren't you. But you came back. You know what's real and what's not. You love you son unconditionally. You love Angel and Liam and me. Hopefully."

"Dawn." Liam warned.

"My point is that we know who the real you is. And she is the best sister, wife, and mother that anyone could have." Buffy, still with tears in her eyes, smiled at her sister. "You wanna hold Connor?" Dawn offered. Buffy nodded her head and Dawn gave Connor to Buffy. Buffy held him protectively in her arms and cried happy tears. Angel smiled and kissed his wife's temple. Liam rubbed his mother's back. Dawn smiled at Buffy. Now everything was back to normal. In a way.

**So, what do you think? I liked it. So anyway, there is still time to try and figure out what Liam's plan is for Connor and Sahjhan and Holtz. I haven't seen anyone get close yet. There's still time. You might figure it out next chapter. Next one is the story arc to Connor's kidnapping. You'll be very surprised as to what I have in store. Comment and review. Please people, review. I don't receive that many anymore. Hurts my feelings. Review please.**


	18. Couplet

Chapter 18: Couplet

**The beginning of the Connor arc. Liam has something planned. What is it? What will this mean for the rest? So many questions. So little time. Two chapters after this. Possibly three. One might be a two parter. But read this one. Enjoy.**

After the Buffy in a mental institution fiasco in Sunnydale, the family had returned to LA where they had a least some control over what happened to them in there 'normal' lives. Liam and Xander had gotten on good terms when they left, which was good. Buffy and Dawn loved each other more than ever having some quality sister time. Angel didn't mind, he like spending time with Connor. Liam was glad that his family was happy. He, however, wasn't as happy as they were. He was more worried about what he knew was going to happen next in the time line. He was glad that Delia was here. That way he had someone he could trust to confide in. He had a plan brewing, and it wasn't going to be a pretty one. Then again, when is a plan ever pretty?

…

Angel and Buffy came down the stairs into the lobby. Buffy as holding Connor in her arms. Wesley was moving about behind the reception counter.

"Hey." Angel said happily.

"Morning you two." Wes said.

"You're the only one here?" Buffy asked.

"So far. How's young Connor today?"

"He's good. Perfectly content like his mother. Actually, I think he's sleeping."

"Cordelia, she's usually in by now, isn't she?" Angel asked.

"It's early. I imagine she and Groosalug were up late. They have a lot of catching up to do."

"Right."

"Actually, I was hoping you and I could talk before the others got here."

"Sure. What is it?" Angel and Wes went into the office while Buffy went to get breakfast.

"Well it's the fact of him. I know his sudden arrival was something we all needed a moment to digest. Still, there are questions."

"You're suspicious."

"'Cautious' might be a better word."

"You think he's evil."

"Evil?"

"Okay, maybe not evil, but he's definitely hiding something. Does he seem shorter to you?"

"We are both talking about Connor, aren't we?"

"What about Connor?" Buffy asked, coming into the office with a cup of yogurt.

"He shouldn't exist."

"His birth was foretold. How many people can say that?"

"He has a role to play, that's true, but we still don't know what that role is. Liam refuses to divulge anything, believing that we should discover things on our own. But still, we can't be afraid to ask the questions, because your guy's enemies, his enemies, certainly won't be."

"You're right. We should be prepared." Angel said.

"I'm glad you agree. However, with the loss of the Nyazian Prophecies, our only other resource is your other son."

"But he says that he and Delia can't tell us anything." Buffy said. "They are only here to stop whatever apocalypse happens in their time and will allow us to help. Everything else that happens with us, we have to deal with on our own. Like we did in their time.

"Then I guess we'll probably have to look elsewhere for our answers." Wes sighed.

"Well, we both know where those prophecies went. Maybe it's time to make another assault on Wolfram and Hart." Angel suggested.

"That might not be necessary. Not yet, anyway. There should be other sources. Ancient works accumulate scholarship, commentary over the years."

"Huh. You think somebody else has already done the work for us."

"That's my hope. I've been looking into it. I just… I felt you should know."

"I wanna be involved, completely."

"Involved with who?" Cordy asked, coming in to the lobby. They all spun to see Cordy set some stuff on the counter. Buffy and Angel walked out to see her.

"You're here. And... so is he." Angel said, noticing Groo messing with Angel's weapons.

"Angel. Your weapons are most impressive." Groo said.

"Thanks. Thank you. Can you, uh, ask him not to handle my weapons?" Angel asked Cordy.

"Oh, relax. If there's one thing Groo knows, it's how to handle a weapon. Poor guy. Looks like that's about all he's gonna be handling." Cordy said.

"You mean, ah, you two didn't…"

"I got him home last night and we started... you know. But then I couldn't go through with it."

"You couldn't?" Buffy asked.

"No. Not after seeing that disgusting, spiny thing!"

"Spiny?"

"Right up in my face! That's what the visions are like now. No pain, less artsy, sometimes floaty, though not lately, and very often stinky."

"You had a vision?" Wes asked.

"Yeah. Big as life last night, while Groo and I were getting reacquainted. Kind of a mood killer, I got to say."

"You should have called one of us."

"Oh, please! Like I'm gonna bother you guys in the middle of the night because I want sex and can't have it."

"Actually, I meant the vision." Wes said.

"Oh. That. Well, it's not rising up until sometime later today." Cordy said.

"What's not rising until later today?" Liam asked coming down the stairs with Delia behind him.

"I had a vision. You guys will be going out tonight to kill something."

"Sweet." Delia said smiling.

"Why can't you have sex?" Wes asked Cordy.

"Nice Wes. A very appropriate question to ask a girl." Delia deadpanned.

"I could lose my 'visionity.'"

"Now I'm confused." Liam informed them.

"Vision-ity! The visions. When that one hit my last night, it hit me. In Pylea the visions were supposed to pass to Groo if we ever did the royal com- shuck. How do I know that won't happen here?"

"Good point. You really don't." Angel said.

"But your recent transformation could have changed all that. It might be possible to..." Wes said.

"Still, you know, better safe than sorry. You're doing the right thing."

"I know. I know. I can't risk it. It's just... I'm so... And he's such a… Rrrr... Don't you think?" Cordy said.

"Yeah, sure." Angel said.

"Certainly." Wes said.

"Oh yeah." Buffy said.

"Totally." Delia said.

"Not a clue." Liam said. Everyone looked at him. "What?"

"I mean, there's gotta be other things we can do to relieve the tension!" Cordy said.

"Jogging could be the thing." Angel suggested.

"Perhaps some form of paranormal prophylactic..." Wes said.

"Because, you know, jogging..."

"I guess we could probably 'com' without actually 'shucking.'" Cordy said, looking at Groo.

"Now that sounded wrong." Liam said turning away a bit.

"Well, I don't know. That could be a slippery slope that once you're on, that you could slide." Angel said.

"At least I won't be upsetting the average around here. Nobody in this office is ever gonna get any." Cordy said. Buffy, Angel, Liam, and Delia all coughed. "Oh, 'cept Romeo and Juliet here and the couples of tomorrow."

…

"We've identified the demon from Cordelia's vision as a Senih'd. We believe it will rise in the mid-city area sometime before nightfall." Wesley said, handing Gunn an open book. Gunn and Fred had gotten to the Hyperion about two hours ago. Now they were all convened in Wes's office and talking about the latest baddy. "The Senih'd manifests in its physical form for one purpose only to feed." Wes continued.

"Seen it." Cordy said as Fred handed her the book after she had taken it from Gunn. Cordy gave the book to Groo who looked at it. Angel looked over Groo's shoulder while Groo showed it to Buffy. Angel stood on tiptoe and then dropped back down. He did it a couple times more before Buffy looked at him funny and smacked him on the arm. Liam watched with some amusement. "Angel and Buffy will take the sewer tunnels. The rest of us will go by car to Sorensen Park. We'll enter the underground from the water treatment plant there, double back. Hopefully by the time we meet up again..." Wes said.

"I know this creature. It resembles the Bleaucha, which nest in the scum pits of Ur. I've slain many." Groo said.

"Really?"

"Tracking it will be simple. Killing it, more difficult."

"Well, yeah." Angel said.

"Alright then. Groo, you go with Buffy and Angel. Let's move out."

"And where does that leave us?" Delia asked.

"Oh, well since you and Liam are here to thwart and apocalypse of your own, you might make considerable progress if you weren't….fighting our demons." Wes said trying to sound nice.

"He's got a point Del." Liam said. "We have word to do."

"Fine, but next demon I want in." Delia said before she and Liam left to go back upstairs. The rest started to leave and Angel pulled Buffy and Wes aside.

"I don't think this is such a good idea, me and Buffy and Groo. You know, we're more loners. Plus, he's so bulky. He could really slow us down!"

"He's an experienced warrior. He should be a great asset to you two." Wes said.

"Angel, we'll be fine. Groo is cool." Buffy said.

"Well…" Angel looked over at Groo and Cordy at the weapons cabinet. Cordy handed him a sword. "That's my favorite broadsword!"

"You'll be fine, Angel." Wes said.

"Are you sure you're gonna be warm enough? The sewers are pretty damp." Cordy said to Groo.

"I shall be fine." Groo said.

"Okay." Cordy handed a weapon to Angel without even looking away from Gru. "Here" Angel looked at the axe with the small head on it and showed it to Buffy who had chosen a crossbow. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Let's go." Angel said

…

"I shall present this beast's head to my princess as a token." Groo said.

"Right... 'Cause she'll love that." Angel said. He, Buffy, and Groo were walking through the sewers looking for the demon from Cordy's vision.

"You sense anything?" Angel asked Buffy.

"A deep sadness." Groo who answered first. Buffy and Angel stopped and stared at him. "My princess. She is unhappy. I fear I am the cause."

"No. No, she's not unhappy you're here, Groo. She's thrilled." Buffy said.

"Then what keeps her from me? There is a distance as if her heart is not free."

"I... I think, that maybe she's afraid to get too close. She's, uh, scared if she does, she'll, uh, lose something." Angel said.

"But I would give myself to her." Suddenly, they were interrupted by a low growl. Buffy held her hand up to stop Groo. She didn't need to with Angel because they had fought together so long that they could literally synchronize their fights. Angel touched some liquid spots on the ground, and then rubbed his fingers together, looking at them. "It is wounded. It bleeds." Groo said.

"It's better than bread crumbs. Let's go." Buffy said. Angel, Buffy, and Groo entered what looked like the water treatment plant Wes was talking about. The Senih'd dropped off some pipes behind them. The three turned and attacked the demon together. The Senih'd managed to disarm both Angel and Groo fairly early into the fight, but neither Angel nor Groo let that slow them down. Buffy stepped in and shot the demon through the leg to try to slow it down. It hit her across the face hard enough to send her crashing into the wall. Angel took a bit more of a beating than Groo, but other than that they were doing about the same against the monster. Until it let out a scream and broke through the wall to escape into the sunny park outside. Angel scrambled back out of the sunlight streaming in through the opening. Groo picked up his dropped sword, and then held out a hand to help Angel up.

"Come." Groo said. Angel just looked at Gru, not moving. Screams sounded from outside, and Groo turned to run after the Senih'd. Buffy went to Angel as he was getting up. They turned and watched Groo rescue the young woman the Senih'd has grabbed. The demon tried to use the woman as a shield against Groo's sword, but Groo managed to knock them apart. Cordy, Wes, Gunn, and Fred came running over a rise in the park, just in time to see Groo catch the woman in one arm, while knocking the Senih'd down and stabbing it deep into the back of its neck. The demon dissolved into an oily black puddle that seeped away into the ground. The woman Groo had rescued clung to him as if her life depended on him.

"Well done." Wes said. "I must say, excellent work." People in the park gathered around Groo and the others and started to applaud. "Well done." Wes looked over at the hole in the wall and saw Buffy and Angel standing in the shadows watching. Buffy looked at Angel.

"Come on. Let's go home." She said.

"All right." Angel wrapped his arms around Buffy's waist and they walked back through the tunnels to the Hyperion.

…

Angel and buffy arrived at the Hyperion before anyone else had. Liam and Delia were sitting over at the reception table talking. They turned their heads to see Angel and Buffy enter. Liam saw the look on Angel's face.

"Oh great. Who'd kill this time a Angelus?" Liam asked trying to make a joke.

"Not funny." Angel said.

"Geez, sorry. I just wanna know what's bugging you." Liam said coming over.

"It's about you and Groo. I take it there is some definite tension there." Buffy said.

"No. No, there isn't." Angel said.

"I think there is." Liam said.

"Well there isn't." Buffy glared at him. "Ok, there is. There's just something really off putting about him. I know, I know… he has won Cordy's affections and I love Cordy like a sister. Maybe it's just me wanting to protect her, but there is something that I don't like about him."

"Get to know him. You haven't given him a chance."

"What if I don't want to give him a chance? He tried to kill me in Pylea."

"You tried to kill me." Buffy said.

"So?"

"I gave you a chance. Where would we be if I hadn't given you a chance? You went to the Bronze to kill me five years ago and you were Angel. I told you to go ahead and you couldn't do it. I gave you a chance to love me and I wanted to get to know you better. You two could be friends if you just try. Just like what happened with Spike. Liam urged us to give him a chance and now I love Spike like a brother. And you two tolerate one another."

"A well put example." Delia commented.

"Thank you." Buffy said and turned back to Angel. "Will you try with Groo, for me?"

"Can I beat him up once?"

"Maybe. Depends on the circumstances."

"Ok."

…

"You think you know someone. You think your place is secure and that there's a future there." Ms. Frakes said. Buffy and Angel were sitting across from Ms. Frakes behind Wes' desk, watching Groo as he reenacted his fight with the demon for Liam, Delia, Cordy, Gunn, and Fred.

"And then something happens. No, strike that. Some ONE happens! They insinuate themselves, pushing you out, taking your place." Angel turned his attention back to Ms. Frakes.

"And what makes you think this other woman is a witch, Ms. Frakes?" Angel asked.

"Why else would Jerry cheat on me? We've been engaged for eight years! She had to have put some kind of a spell on him." Angel leaned back in his chair. Buffy sat on the edge of the desk. "Well, if you give me the woman's name I'll have someone check her out. See if we can find out if she's a witch."

"HotBlonde37159." Ms. Frakes handed Angel some papers. "I got these off the e-mails that I took from Jerry's computer."

"It's, ah, gonna.. uh, it's gonna be pretty difficult to find her based solely on this."

"Well, just follow Jerry! I'm sure he'll lead you right to her." Angel looked up at Wes as he entered the office.

"Ms. Frakes here wants us to stake out her fiancé. I was trying to explain to her that..."

"I think we can spare someone to keep an eye on Ms. Frakes' fiancé. Gunn!" Wes called. Gunn got up from the settee. "If witchcraft is involved we should probably look into it."

"What's up?" Gunn asked.

"Ah, Gunn, Ms. Frakes here needs some surveillance work. I thought, if you were free..."

"Yeah, not a problem."

"Good. She'll give you the details. I'll leave it in your hands."

"Sure thing." Fred came into the office and smiled.

"We won't let you down." She said. With that, the two left with Ms. Frakes. Wesley stared after Fred. Buffy lifted her head and looked at Wes.

"You ok?" Buffy asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes."

"Who were you on the phone with?" Angel asked.

"Oh, a book store. A rare book store." Wes started to walk off, but turned around. "Would you like to come with me?"

"Sure." Buffy said.

"Let me get our coats and we'll go with you." Angel said.

…

"I don't know. Maybe they should just do it, you know? Get it over with." Angel was saying as they entered the shop.

"I'm sorry?" Wes asked.

"He means Cordy and Groo." Buffy clarified.

"She's being all noble for the good of the team. She should just make with the com-shuck. That's what she wants." Angel said.

"Oh." Wes said.

"May I help you?" the guy running the store asked.

"Yes. I phoned earlier about Grammaticus Third Century Greek Commentaries."

"Of course. The G.T.C.G.C. I'll be just one moment." The guy went to a back room and Angel continued talking.

"I mean, why not? You know, life is short. Okay, not mine, but, you know, most people's. And if Groo does it for her, she should go for it. Make him happy. Make her happy. Make everybody happy."

"But still office romance complicates things. What if they should have a row, or break up?" Wes asked.

"You see where this office romance ended up don't you?" Buffy asked sarcastically.

"All of us fight with each other at some point. I don't see it changing things much." Angel said.

"Well, she said it herself. It could risk the visions." Wes said.

"Okay. So the visions pass to Groo. He gets them instead of her. So what?"

"Are you suggesting Groosalug could replace Cordelia?"

"Maybe not Cordelia."

"I see. You think he could replace you."

"I don't know. Seems to me, here is a guy who can do everything I can and a few things I can't."

"Awe, sweetie, that's not true." Buffy said.

"You saw what happened this afternoon. If Groo hadn't been there..."

"I would have gone after it."

"And the rest of us would have. Angel, you're the reason we've all come together. It's your mission which animates us. We each contribute, it's true, but you… you're unique. You're like one of these rare volumes. One of a kind." Wes said. The guy running the store walked back out.

"I've got three of them." He said. Angel groaned and walked out to the car. Buffy looked at Wesley who nodded to tell her everything was going to be ok there.

…

Angel, Buffy, and Wes arrived back at the hotel and were walking through the garden.

"Well, ah, Wesley thanks for what you said before. You put things into perspective for me." Angel said.

"Glad I could. While I do believe having another warrior for good may be an asset in the coming days, truth is, you and the Groosalug are two totally different – people..." Wes trailed off as they opened the doors and found Groo standing there. His hair was cut short and he was wearing Angel's clothes.

"Uh, hello." Groo said.

"...who look exactly alike." Wes finished.

"He's wearing my clothes." Angel said under his breath.

"Good fit." Buffy said.

"Where's Cordelia?" Cordy came out of the office, a huge smile on her face and Liam and Delia came out with her.

"Oh, good. You're back." Cordy said.

"He's wearing my clothes."

"What? Oh, yeah. I… I didn't think you'd mind. Turns out you guys are about the same size. I think he's a little taller. Looks great though, doesn't he?"

"Welcome to the land of the looking badass my friend." Liam said putting his arm around Groo.

"Strange name for a land." Groo said. Liam patted Groo's chest.

"We'll work on that."

"Angel, I need your help." Cordy said.

"What happened? You had a vision?" Angel asked.

"What? Oh, no. No, it's nothing like that. Um. This is personal."

"What is it?"

"I wouldn't ask, except, ah, there's really no one else I can trust with this. It's something only you can do?" Angel led Cordy into the office and sat her down in the chair while Buffy took the desk.

"Tell me." Angel said.

"You've done so much for me already and... Well, this is just one more thing for the list, I guess."

"There is no list. You know that. Just... just tell me what I can do."

"I need you to help me have sex with Groo." Angel looked out the window at Groo who was talking to Wes, Buffy, Liam, and Delia. Liam and Delia seemed to like to talk to Groo. Cordy grinned at Groo behind Buffy's back and waved. Groo waved and smiled back. Angel lifted a hand, wiggled his fingers a little and raised his eyebrows, while trying to smile back.

"I realized something today. It's not the threat of losing the visions that's been keeping me from being close. It's me. The Visions are just an excuse. I mean there's always some excuse." Cordy said.

"Right." Angel said.

"I'm tired of being lonely."

"Yeah."

"So I worked it out."

"You did?"

"Yes! It was something Wesley said a paranormal prophylactic. And that got me thinking. I couldn't be the only woman on earth that had some supernatural gift that could be lost through physical intimacy."

"Stands to reason."

"So I started researching and anyway, I'm right. There is a potion, a protective potion. I take it and bang! I can."

"A potion?"

"Yeah. Anyway, this woman's name is Anita, and she's kind of in the business. Makes love potions, elixirs, things like that. She says she's got just the thing at this address." Cordy handed a slip of paper to Angel.

"You want me to get this for you?"

"I went to my ATM, got cash. Nearly cleaned me out, but I think it's worth it." Cordy handed Angel some money.

"So you and Groo can..."

"Com-shuck like bunnies. You betcha."

"Why don't you just send him?"

"I am sending him. He kind of insists on it, but that's why I need you."

"Huh?"

"He doesn't know this world. I can't send him into a demon brothel all by himself! I mean, I trust him, but I'm not crazy."

"Brothel?" Angel stepped back.

"You'd be safe there. No woman's gonna tempt you, right?"

"R... right."

"And for extra precaution, you could take Liam. You guys will be fine." Groo and Liam walked in.

"Are we ready?" Groo asked.

"I think so." Cordy said. "And just the person I wanted to see. Liam, I need you and Angel go with Groo to run an errand.

"I'm game." Liam said smiling

"We're most grateful for your help, Angel." Groo said throwing his arm around Angel's shoulder. "You've been a true friend to us both." Liam stood on Groo's other side. They all looked and dressed alike.

"Yeah." Angel said.

"So where are we going?" Liam asked.

"A brothel."

"What!?" Liam said sounding surprised and worried.

…

"Oh, I love your outfits." Anita said. Liam, Angel, and Groo followed her through the mansion that wasn't exactly what ANYONE would imagine a brothel would be like. This one had demons as their whores! Liam looked at the demon whores with discomfort.

"Well, I really wouldn't call them 'outfits.'" Angel said.

"But you are together?" Groo put his arms around Liam and Angel.

"Yes! Three champions here together." Liam and Angel pushed Groo's arms off.

"Not 'together' together. Just 'get the potion' together." Angel clarified. "I have a wife."

"So I may com-shuck my princess."

"Just to reiterate," Angel pointed at himself, "NOT..." Angel got distracted by the sound of laughter, "the princess..." Anita looked to Liam.

"One thought and I burn this place down." Liam threatened. Liam and Angel stopped to stare into a room where a couple was having a pillow fight.

"The room is enchanted. Everything that happens in there, every touch, every emotion, every desire is extended for maximum pleasure. I can check the schedule if you and your wife would like." Anita said to Angel as she led Groo down the corridor. Liam lingered looking into the room with more discomfort. After a moment, he followed Groo and Anita. "Just right in here." Anita led Groo into a big bedroom. A man wearing dress pants and a shirt was manacled to one of the walls.

"Oh, hello!" the man said.

"Fear not, friend. We are here to save you!" Groo said, rushing over to the man, trying to pull him out of the manacles.

"Hey! Get off!" the man cried. Liam walked in and he went and pulled Groo away.

"Groo! Groo, he's happy there." Liam said.

"As a slave?"

"Don't judge me." The man said.

"Come on." Liam looked at the man. "Sorry." Then back at Anita. "If you'll just give us the potion, we'll be..."

"You brought cash?" Anita asked. Angel pulled out the wad of cash that Cordy had given him and she handed it to Anita. Anita took it then lifted one hand up into the air. There was a little tinkling sound and her hand was enveloped in a deep blue light. As she brought her hand back down she was holding a small metal bottle.

"Make sure to tell your princess to drink it all at once." Anita said to Groo. Groo took and it and Anita turned to Liam and Angel. "I know why your earnest friend is here, but why are you two here? What's in it for you?"

"Apparently a horrible trip down memory lane." Liam muttered looking around. Angel looked to his son. Liam looked at his father. "Don't judge me." Liam repeated the tied up guys words. "It's a long story." Angel was a little too distracted with what Liam said he didn't notice the ringing cell phone.

"Angel, your coat is singing." Groo said. Angel took the cell phone out of his pocket and opened it.

"Hello. What? Gunn? I can barely hear you."

"Yeah, reception's not so great, is it?" Gunn asked.

"Where are you?"

"Under Plummer Park."

"Under it?"

"Pretty much. We were tailing that woman's fiancé..."

"Jerry." Fred said in the background.

"…and we kind of lost him."

"But then we found him sort of."

"Him and his date. Some root-crazy, tree-like demony thing."

"With what looks like a DSL connection. We're pretty sure he chats up lonely hearts online, and then sucks them down here for food. Or maybe it gets its power that way."

"Monster's got a big, old, leathery joint jammed up into the guy. I think it's sucking the life out of him."

"What… have you called Wesley yet?" Angel asked.

"We were kind of hoping we wouldn't have to." Gunn said.

"I don't understand."

"We just didn't want to bother him with this."

"Bother him?"

"Look. Nothing against Wes, but I'm not sure he can help us out at the moment. What we really need is Groo and you and Liam. Can I talk to Groo?"

"Oh, uh..," Angel handed Groo the cell phone. "It's for you."

…

Groo led the way through the sewers.

"I am honored they requested the Groosalug to save them." Groo said.

"I wouldn't say requested, more like included. Hang on. Here. Here. Did you feel it?" Angel asked.

"Something evil."

"Whoa, easy. Slow down, Champ! We have to be very careful here." Liam said.

"You're right. Will you keep this safe?" Groo asked Liam, handing him the bottle with the potion in it.

"Fine." Liam took it and stuck it in his coat pocket.

"But we've just got to be, you know, a little bit more…" Angel began but Groo took off at a dead run. "...patient." Groo started to slash at the roots as he entered the cave.

"It's Groo!" Fred cried.

"Over here!" Gunn called. Groo let out another battle cry. The face in the trunk roared back. A root shot out and buried itself in the middle of Groo's chest. Groo dropped the sword as he was pulled up beside the now released Jerry, who was lying motionless on the ground.

"What are we gonna do now?" Fred asked. Angel came running in through the roots.

"That's my shirt!" he said.

"Dad?" Liam asked. Angel turned to find Liam's leg tangled in a root that had decided to grab him and hold him hostage. He started to untangle his son.

"This thing is not actually made out of wood, is it?" Angel asked.

"No, it's flesh." Fred said.

"Good." Angel finished helping Liam out of the roots and went to pick up Groo's dropped sword. "Flesh I can deal with. Flesh I can kill."

"But I don't think hacking it is going to do any good. It doesn't seem to have any vital organs. It uses people as batteries. It draws its power from its victims." Angel looked from the root-demon's snarling face to Groo, who was groaning and straining against the root buried in his chest.

"And it's been getting stronger since it tapped into Groo." Gunn said.

"Really? Stronger? Come on! He can't be that great." Angel said.

"Dad, not the time now." Liam said.

"He is the Groosalug." Fred said. Gunn looked at Fred as Angel dropped the sword and walked to the face in the tree.

"What do you think? Honestly. Does he seem really 'better' than other men?" Angel asked.

"He's magnificent." The tree thing said.

"Really? I'd say more like magnificently stupid. Because him with the beer tap in his chest and me with the, you know, just walking around." Angel walked up to Groo. "And I'm really getting tired of the 'Groosa- worship' thing." Angel slugged Groo in the face. The root-demon let out a roar. "Nothing personal, champ. Oh! Everyone makes such a big deal about the Groosalug." He slugged Groo again. The root-demon roared. "He's such a champion." Slug. Roar. "He's so rugged." Slug. Roar. "He's so emotionally available." Slug. Roar. "Look at him in the daylight." Slug. Roar. "But you know what? I'm smarter, and I'm stronger, and I pick out my own clothes!" Angel kicked Groo. The demon roared, withdrew its tap-root from Groo, and buried it in Angel's chest instead.

"Dad!" Liam cried. Angel dropped to his knees, catching himself on his left hand, while his right wrapped around the taproot.

"Okay. Oh, jeez. Well, it's okay. You know, no one is using my heart at the moment anyway."

"Kill you." the tree thing said.

"Sorry. Already dead."

"Vampire!"

"Yeah. Did I mention that?"

"Cold. Cold."

"Oh, yeah. It's kinda cold in there. But, hey, don't let that stop you." The tree demon moaned. The root bindings around Gunn and Fred shriveled and dropped away. Liam jumped up, grabbed Groo's dropped sword.

"So cold!" The tree said.

"So dead!" Liam roared at the tree. He buried the sword in the root- demon's face. A yellowish green liquid poured out. "That's for my father." Fred and Gunn went to check on Groo, while Liam checked on Angel.

"How is he?" Angel asked.

"Pretty beat up. Still alive thanks to you." Fred said.

"Beat up huh?"

"You got what you wanted. Are you happy now?" Liam asked.

"Oh yeah. This chest sucking business, this is the stuff." Liam laughed and helped Angel to his feet.

…

"Yes, Ms. Frakes. We are, too. You're welcome. Good bye." Wesley hung up phone. "Well, Ms. Frakes is very happy. You saved her fiancé's life."

"So he's gonna be okay?" Fred asked.

"Yes."

"That's good." Gunn said.

"Well, good work. You should probably get cleaned up, then."

"Yeah. Good idea." Fred said, getting up.

"Uh, Charles… A word?" Gunn and Wes stared at each other for a moment.

"Well, good night." Fred said.

"Good night. What is it?" Gunn asked Wes.

"When you knew this was more than just a tryst you should have told me." Wes said.

"It happened so fast. The thing just grabbed the guy and he was gone."

"That's... That's not what I meant."

"Oh. You mean..." Gunn pointed a thumb back over his shoulder. "Well... I'm not so sure that's any of your business."

"No. You're probably right. Still... She could get hurt. I trust that won't happen?"

"What are you, her brother?"

"Apparently."

"Wesley, I..."

"She chose. It's just important to me that she's taken care of."

"She will be."

"Good." Wes picked up his pen and went back to working on translating the open book in front of him. Gunn watched him for a moment then turned to go. Halfway to the door he turned back and opened his mouth, but closed it again without speaking and left. Wes looked up.

…

Angel scrunched up his face, as buttons rained to the floor.

"Sorry." Cordy said.

"It's, uh... it's okay. It, uh… was already ruined." Angel said.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I planned to rip it off him later anyway. You did get the potion, didn't you?" Liam reached into his coat that was hanging on a coat rack and pulled out the little bottle.

"Yeah. We got it." He said.

"Good. Now I need to talk to you." Delia said crossing her arms.

"A bout what?"

"About you going to a brothel and going after a demon when we weren't supposed to and you didn't invite me." She looked at him sternly. She grabbed Liam's hand and led him away. Liam handed the potion to Buffy as he was pulled away, apparently in trouble.

"Well. This isn't so bad. You heal almost as fast as he does." Cordy said to Groo.

"Princess, I... I have a confession to make." Groo said.

"Groo." Angel said. Groo looked over at Angel, who silently shook his head 'no' at him. Cordy pulled his face back around to look at her.

"A confession? What... what confession? Did something happen at the brothel? Angel and Liam was supposed to look after him!" Cordy said.

"Nothing happened! Except your boyfriend here was very brave, and saved the day." Angel said.

"You did? You big hero!"

"No. I was reckless! I put everyone in grave peril. Angel is the true champion. He saved us all." Groo said.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, but..." Angel said.

"How many guys would just give away the credit like that? That is just so noble." Cordy held out her hand. "The potion." Buffy put the flask into her outstretched hand. Cordy took it then grabbed Groo by his shirt and pulled him up off the settee. "Let's get out of here! See ya!" They practically ran towards the exit.

"Cordelia." Angel said. Cordy stopped and looked back at Angel.

"What?" When Angel only stood there, Cordy held up a finger to Groo then walked back to Angel. "What is it?" Cordy asked. Angel took one of her hands and put a roll off dollar bills tied with a string into it. "What's this?"

"Just some money I saved up." Angel said.

"Why? What for?"

"I did something for you tonight. Now I want you to do something for me. Don't come in tomorrow. In fact, don't come in for a couple of weeks. Take Groo some place nice. Somewhere where there is sun. He'd like that."

"Angel..."

"Promise me." Cordy shook her head a little as she looked down at the money.

"Okay." Cordy turned to leave, then turned back and touched the hole in Angel's shirt where the tentacle went into his heart. "You sure you don't need some patching up yourself?" Angel looked down at his chest. "No, I... I'm good. Didn't hurt a bit. Besides, I've got Buffy." Cordy looked at him for a moment.

"Take care of her Angel." Angel nodded and she turned and walked out with Groo. As the door closed Wes came out of his office. Angel looked at him then turned towards the stairs.

…

A little while later, Angel walked into Wes' office carrying Connor in his arms

"Working late?" Angel asked.

"Yes. - You startled me." We said noticing Angel and Connor

"Oh, we didn't mean to."

"I thought I was alone."

"Yeah." Angel looked at Connor with a smile. "So did I." Wes watched as Angel kissed Connor's cheek and walked back out of the office. Wes let out a sigh and looked back down at his notepad where it read

_The father - will kill - the son._

Wes stared at the writing in front of him. There was knock and Wes looked up.

**End of chapter. Can anybody still guess Liam's plan? Who was at the door to Wes' office at the end? Guess. Comment. Review. Please do all three. Next chapter and the one after will have a lot more in store. Stay tuned.**


	19. Attention

Chapter 19: Attention (Part 1)

**And here is part 1 of the epic conclusion to the Connor story arc. Most is the same, but I've put in my own twists. More twists will be seen in the next chapter, and the third is just filled with twists. Hope you enjoy. Also, I forgot one chapter that is previous to this one and I posted it as a separate story. It's called, 'Liam's Birthday'. It takes place before 'Waiting in the Wings'. It doesn't have a lot to do with this main story, but it does give some light on things in the future and future installments. I consider reading it. Now, back to this chapter. Its semi awesome, but it leads to awesome, then it leads to even more awesome. Enjoy.**

It had been really hectic the past few days for the A.I. team. A woman in need of help, Aubrey, came to Angel Investigations about her son who had run away and been turned into a vampire. Everyone felt sorry for her, until they found out she had been working with Holtz and spying on the team for him. The team would now be on their guard for any more suspicious visitors form Holtz's Angel-Hunters. Also what seemed to have been happening in the past number of days was Angel drinking so much blood. He got his blood from the same butcher as always. But this new batch seemed better than normal. Angel didn't really seem to notice all that much. He drank, that was it. Liam however, eyed his father since he noticed the change.

Angel and Buffy were in their room at the Hyperion and putting Connor in his crib. There was a knock on the door.

"Come on it." Angel called to whoever it was. Wesley stepped into the room. Buffy laid a fussy Connor in the crib.

"It's okay. Shh. I'll get you some food. You're hungry, aren't you?" she cooed to the baby. "Angel could you?" she asked him to get the baby his bottle.

"Of course." Angel walked over to the kitchenette and looked up at Wes. "Have a nice walk?" he lit the gas stove. "How're you doing? - Really?"

"I've had better days." Wes replied after a beat. Angel set a bottle into a pot of water on the stove.

"I know the feeling." Buffy said. Wes looked to her. She was looking at Connor in the crib.

"I've figured it out." Angel said sitting down at the table, Buffy following right after.

What?" Wesley asked confused.

"How I really knew about Aubrey. - All that pain, that rage... the only way she could deal was to join Holtz, take her revenge. - You know how I knew that?" Wesley walked over to them.

"Because you would have done the same."

"It scares me. You know? If anything like that ever happened to Connor or Buffy or Liam, I don't know what I'd... I love my sons and my wife very much. Some might say too much."

"Love can be a terrible thing."

"I used to think that. I thought love was something that swallowed you whole, ripped you up inside, but, you know, what I feel for Connor, Liam, and Buffy, even that fear... Wes, it's, it's not terrible. It's beautiful." Wesley started to laugh. It was just a short burst of quiet laughter, but Angel picked up on it. "What's so funny?" Angel got up to situate some stuff on the counter.

"Life. Life is funny. Listening to stupid people talking to hamburgers is funny. Worrying about things that will never... It's all so incredibly funny and, and beautiful." Angel started to reply to that as he turned on the stove to start a bottle for Connor, but a hard earthquake hit. Pots and pans started falling out of the cabinets as Angel dodged away and grabbed up Buffy. The lit stove fell over and a column of flame shot up throwing Buffy and Angel across the room. Suddenly a burning beam fell to the floor and separated Buffy and Angel from Wesley. Buffy was the first up and running to get Connor.

"Come on kiddo." She said picking up Connor and running back to Angel. They covered Connor and jumped over the burning beam and started to head towards the door. Wesley was standing there looking at the fire.

"Wesley, get out!" Angel yelled. He ran back to Wesley and yanked him into the hallway with Buffy then following Wes out quickly. Angel was bleeding from a cut on his forehead as he and Buffy stared at the space where Wesley had just been. A huge chunk of hard plaster fell there and Buffy winced, looking down at Connor.

"Shh, It's okay. It's okay. It's alright." She comforted. Angel came over and helped in trying to comfort the screaming Connor. Liam and Delia came from around a corner and ran to the group.

"You guys alright?" Liam immediately asked.

"Whoa." Delia said looking into the now burning room. "That's one hell of a light show." Wesley looked at the blood from Angel's head wound dripping down onto Connor's blanket, a light blue blanket with fluffy white clouds on it.

"Earthquake. Fire. Blood." Wesley mumbled to himself. Liam looked at Wesley and then at his parents and brother. Angel, breathing hard, looked down at the bloody blanket and then smiled at Wesley.

"I thought we were gonna be trapped in there, huh?" he looked down at Conner and Buffy. "At least I would have had something to snack on."

…

Wes stared at his translation of _'the father will kill the son.'_ He looked up at the bassinet as he hears Connor fussing, then closed the book on the desk in front of him on the notepad. He slowly got up and walked over to the bassinet, where Conner was now crying, and looks down at the baby.

"Geez, Wes! Don't you know what you're supposed to do?" Wes looked up to see Angel standing there sipping a tall glass of blood. Angel set the glass aside and walked over to the bassinet. "You pick 'em up when they fuss." Angel did just that. "Daddy's here."

"Sorry. I don't know what I was...I didn't sleep very well." Wes said.

"Yeah, and you look like hell. Not the fun one, where they burn you with hot pokers for all eternity, but the hardcore one, you know, Nixon and Britney Spears?" Angel laughed down at Connor.

"You're awfully chipper today."

"Yeah, it's weird, huh? Maybe it was the earthquake or last night at the pier, but I barely slept and I have all this energy. God, I could drink a horse!" Angel picked up his glass of blood for another drink.

"Speaking of earthquake: you realize we have no insurance."

"Yeah. Bummer."

"Your room is..."

"...the wreck of the Hesperus. I know. Wes, don't be such a worrywart. The best part about owning a hotel is plenty of rooms. I'll just move to another one until we get it fixed." They heard a guitar and a woman's voice. "Who is that singing?

"Lorne is seeing a client in the garden. Buffy, Liam, and Delia are out there with them."

"She's good." Then to Connor, "You wanna see the lady sing?" Angel walked over to look out at the garden court, carrying Connor and took another drink from his glass. A young woman with long blonde hair was singing to her guitar.

_"I fell so far, a light went on in my heart. You're gone, now I'm left alone in the dark." _She stopped and turned to Lorne "Do you see anything?"

"I see you're plenty scared. It's all right. Keep going." Lorne said.

_"My soul is aching..." _the woman continued. Connor started to fuss. Buffy and Liam turned at the sound of her son and Buffy walked up to Angel.

"Hey, hey, hey. No fussing now. Hey, do you wanna see something cool? Sure you do." Angel said to Connor. Angel and Buffy walked back into the lobby and Angel opened the weapons cabinet as Wes watched them. "Ah, huh? You like that broadsword? That's your old man's favorite." Buffy laughed and Angel turned to her. "Buffy! He's gonna be crawling in no time. We've got to start baby proofing this place!" He handed Conner to Wesley. "Here take him." Then to Connor, "It's alright. It's your uncle Wes. Yeah, he loves you bunches!" Angel turned to Buffy, "He's just. English."

"Are you crazy? It's the best state in the Union!" They heard Fred say. They all looked over to see Fred coming down the stairs, talking to her cell phone. "What's wrong with Texas? Texas doesn't hate the black man. Texas 'loves' the black man. Well, most of Texas. Anyone with a brain. What's so great about California?" The doors opened and Gunn walked in, also talking to his cell.

"Everything. It's got the climate, the ocean..." Gunn said.

"The earth that opens up and swallows you whole." Fred retorted.

"The Lakers, the music." Gunn queried. They walked towards each other across the lobby, still talking into their phones.

"The traffic, the smog." Fred said. They stopped face to face.

"It's got you." Gunn said, knowing he had won her over.

"Okay. You win. Morning." Fred said closing her phone and smiling at him.

"Hi." Gunn smiled back

"Glad to see you're using the company phones for such important calls." Wesley said. Gunn held up his phone.

"Did you want me to pay for that?"

"Chain 'em up!" Angel said suddenly.

"What?!" Fred asked

"I say we put a chain and a combination lock on the weapons. Better safe than sorry." He looked down to Connor. "Isn't that right, buddy?" he kissed Conner thon Buffy. Then he said to Wesley "He likes you. I can tell."

"I like him, too. As a matter of fact I was thinking, perhaps I'd take him to the park or the beach, just the two of us." Buffy took Connor from Wesley. "Maybe there'll be some time in the next day or two."

"Sounds great. Yeah. Count on it." Buffy said. Lorne came in.

"Ah, guys? I think there's something you should... Ah, can you come here for a sec?" Lorne asked. They all followed him out into the garden court where Liam and Delia were talking to the woman from before about her singing. "Everybody, this is my friend, Kim." He turned to Kim. "It's all right. They're professionals. Just take it from the chorus, hmm?" Kim started singing.

_"My heart is breaking in two. No love, no light left, no you..."_ Suddenly, her face morphed into that of an ugly gray skinned demon. _"I'll hack your eyeballs out and rip your children in two!"_ Liam and Delia didn't even finch from her transformation. Probably because she did it before the rest of the team came out. Buffy turned Connor away from Kim. Green drool started to drip from her mouth. Then, her face morphed back to human, and Lorne walked over to a shaking Kim.

"It's okay. I got ya. It's all right. It's okay." Lorne turned to the others, "Catchy finish, huh?"

"I liked the first part." Delia commented. They all walked back in and Kim sat down. They were in Wesley's office and he gave her a cup of tea.

"Kim is good people. She came to see me a couple of years ago." Lorne filled in.

"He put me on my true path." Kim said.

"She was throwing her life away in medical school, when she should have been a singer."

"Anybody could've told you that much." Liam said. "She's got a great voice."

"Yeah. Who needs more doctor's in the world when you can have singing demons?" Gunn said.

"Well, the demon part is new." Kim said.

"Ha! Singing demons, flying nuns. Good one, G!" Angel said. Angel took another drink from his glass of blood as Gunn and Liam looked over at him. Liam eyed the glass of blood in Angel's hands. He looked over to Delia who nodded at him.

"Well, she hooked up with this band a couple of weeks ago and..." Lorne started.

"They were mellow organic types. They never touched drugs or played a diminished chord." Kim said.

"I like nuns. How did the flying nun fly anyway? Was it god or magic?" They all looked at Angel and Buffy whacked him in the chest. "What? You think about these things sometimes." He motioned to Kim. "Please - continue!"

"Uhm well, then they started changing. Stevie, the lead guitar grew a seventh finger like overnight." Kim said.

"Seventh?" Buffy intoned.

"Well, he already had six. I just thought... I don't really know what I thought. And Raw, the drummer, suddenly sprouted that spiny thing on his back and they started playing this beyond industrial trash noise funk day and night. And then it happened to me. You saw it. Am I gonna turn into that?" Kim asked. Delia was looking at Kim's saliva through a microscope.

"No. You're human. They're not. What's happening to you isn't permanent. It's just an infection." Delia said.

"Brilliant bio-science wife to the rescue." Liam said smiling at Delia. She smiled back.

"Which you can get rid of by taking twenty milligrams of Cylenthium powder twice a day for a month." She continued.

"Mystical antibiotic. I'll get you some." Lorne offered. Delia held up a glass slide.

"I thought your saliva was suspect. What with being green and all... No offense, Lorne. Under the microscope it showed traces of Penloxia."

"Oh, they're Wraith-ers." Lorne said

"Wraith-ers?" Kim asked.

"Demons that can make themselves look human for a time." Wesley said showing her an entry from one of his books. "Ten days, two weeks, then they revert to what they really are."

"I wonder why they would wanna look like musicians?" Gunn asked.

"For the chicks. Musicians get the chicks!" Angel said. Everyone looked at him. "What? They're gonna appear as dentists? Let's take 'em out." He turned to Kim. "Where are they?"

"In a rehearsal space. It's an old loading dock behind the shop'n'go in Echo Park." Kim said.

"Wes?" Angel asked.

"You'll have to kill them. It's the only thing you can do with Wraith-ers. You, Gunn, Fred, and Buffy can go. Lorne, stay here with the baby. Liam, Delia, I'm going to require both of your assistance." Wesley said.

"Guys, shouldn't we call Cordelia and the Groosalug back into action? I mean, if one of us gets hurt, say, killing Wraith-ers for example. We're gonna need some backup around here." Fred said.

"Nah, I don't wanna disturb her. It's the only break she's had in years." Angel said. "Besides, you know, it's just a couple of Wraith-ers and we have Buffy, Liam, and Delia."

"Three actually." Kim said.

"Piece of cake!" Angel said, pulling some shadow boxing. "I'm up for a little kick-ass! Come on! Who's with me?" Liam kept eyeing his father and shook his head.

…

So, how'd it go?" Lorne asked when the team returned.

"The Wraith-ers are no more." Buffy said.

"Tore 'em apart." Angel said kissing Buffy.

"Literally." Fred said. Angel walked around the counter, opened the little fridge there and poured himself a glass of blood.

"He has been so good the whole time his mommy and daddy's been gone." Lorne said as Angel gulped down blood. "Do you miss your mommy and daddy? They're right here." Lorne looks at Buffy and she took Connor. Liam and Delia entered the lobby. Both of them were carrying box.

"Hey guys. How was the killing?" Liam asked.

"Usual. Filled with death." Buffy replied. "Hey, Angel, I think Connor wants his daddy."

"He needs a lot of things. All day, every day." Angel replied.

"Well, yeah. That's kind of how kids..." Buffy started.

"Connor needs a bath, Connor needs a bottle, what Connor needs is to grow up!" Angel snapped. He gulped more blood as everyone watched him. Liam walked by him and swiped the blood from his hands and continued to the reception area with Delia. "Hey! That's mine."

"Well technically it's his." Liam said as he put the box down by the mini fridge and pointed to Connor. Delia put her box down and opened the fridge. She started taking all the blood that was there out and replaced it all with blood from the boxes they got. Liam poured the contents of the cup Angel had into the trash.

"What the hell are you doing?" Angel demanded.

"Replacing the blood that it's here with newer fresher blood." Delia said.

"Why?"

"Because this blood is spiked." Liam said. Everyone looked at the couple as they replaced the blood. Liam packed the spiked blood in one of the empty boxes and set down on the counter. "Dad, taste this." Liam threw a bag of blood from the box to Angel. Angel drank it in just a few gulps. He looked to his son with a look. "Now drink this one." He tossed one of the new bags to him and Angel drank. He stopped after a single gulp and looked stunned. "Notice anything?"

"Well...it's….it's more….

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Tasty."

"You were all hyped this morning. Then you went all Tyson on those demons." Gunn said. "Then you kinda crashed. Then you had another drink, then you started yelling."

"Mm-hmm, just like my aunt Viola and her Southern Comfort." Fred said.

"Hey." Angel pointed to himself. "Vampire. Need to drink something red. Doesn't make me a blood-aholic."

"Not unless someone's spiking your drink." Lorne said.

"Which we pointed out." Delia informed them just as she finished packing the blood in the refrigerator.

"Where did you get it?" Fred asked.

"Same butcher as always. It's - it's pig's blood." Angel looked to his son. "Right?"

"Yes and no." Liam said.

"I hate that answer."

"I do too. Del."

"We noticed that you were drinking more and more pig's blood than usual the past week." Delia began. "After you and everyone went on your demon killing spree, Liam asked me to look at the blood you've been drinking. He also drank some to wonder why you've been drinking it like its air. Even he noticed a difference."

"It's tasty, yes. But it's like something else I've tasted and never wanted to taste again."

"Human blood." Angel said. Buffy gasped and placed a hand over her mouth.

"Ding Ding Ding. We have a winner." Liam said.

"I looked at the blood and once again, I had interesting blood. Wanna know whose it is?" Liam asked.

"You can tell whose blood it is?" Gunn asked.

"No need." Angel said. "I can feel it. It's his. It's Connor's." Angel said quietly.

"How do you know that?" Buffy asked.

"The past couple of days he's..." Angel took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around himself, "smelled like food."

"So, they've been feeding you your own son's blood so you'd get the taste of it and want more." Liam said.

"Who's 'they'?" Buffy asked.

"Who do you think?" Angel replied darkly.

…

Lilah was sitting at a bar, looking into the mirrored wall backing the shelf of bottles behind the bartender. The bartender served her a drink. After he moved on she hissed at her reflection in the mirror, making a clawing motion with her left hand.

"Like a cat. Can't hear you. But I'm starting to feel you when you're near." Lilah said. She turned around and there is Angel with Buffy. "Isn't that nice and creepy? How'd you find me?"

"Your assistant." Angel said plainly.

"I'll have his arms broken."

"Already taken care of." Buffy said.

"And am I next?"

"You know, Lilah, there are so many things I could do to you. With transfusions I could keep you alive indefinitely. I do have some expertise in this area. My own son. How could you?" Angel asked.

"It's my job." Lilah turned back to her drink. After a beat Angel and Buffy sat down on stools on either side her.

"Don't you ever get tired of the whole femme fatale act?" Angel asked, then to the bartender, "Whiskey, straight, lots of it." Back to Lilah. "How about just once you talk to me like a person?"

"Look, I've been doing this a long damn time. I've had to be better, smarter, quicker than every man in Wolfram and Hart."

"So, it's a feminist thing." To the Bartender as he set down Angel's drink, "It's on her."

"It's a survival thing. I made a lot of devil's bargains and I stuck to them. As a result, I live somewhat dangerously, and quiet comfortably. My mother, who no longer recognizes me, has the best room at the clinic. I get up every morning, put on my game face and do what I have to."

"Thing about a game face, Lilah, you wear it long enough, it stops being something you can put on and take off."

"Wow. We've spent so much time and money on you. You're so pivotal to the coming cataclysm, that I sometimes forget how dense you can be. The game face, the one I worked so hard to get, I became that years ago. Just like you've become simpering and good from yours. You're the new poster boy for human. Thank you very much. I don't want it."

"Hmm, speaking as one non-human to another: sorry if I hit a nerve." Lilah laughed.

"You think you can awaken some buried spark of decency in me? Is that the way you help your helpless? I'm not helpless. I'm glad you came along, because I was sitting here 'what's it all about' and now I know. It is all about making the rest of your eternal life miserable." She clinked her glass to Angel's and smiled. "Shall we drink to that?"

"You back-stabbing, traitorous bitch." Sahjhan said. Angel, Buffy, and Lilah twisted around on their stools and there was Sahjhan standing behind them. "I have a lot of work to do. I can't be in every time/space at once, and here I find you drinking with my sworn enemy." Sahjhan said.

"Sworn enemy? Really? Have we met? Because I don't remember swearing." Angel said.

"Hey! You're that demony guy I saw with Holtz!" Buffy said.

"Sahjhan, he found me." Lilah said before the demon could react to Buffy. Angel glanced from Buffy to Lilah and then to Sahjhan.

"So you all are in cahoots. Ethereal time-traveling demon you're the screwball that brought Holtz back. How's that working out? He's not very fond of demons, is he?" Angel asked.

"You will learn nothing from me." Sahjan said.

"Other than that you're his sworn enemy, who brought Holtz back, and when that didn't work out, you came to me. Idiot." Lilah said.

"Hey! You think my life is easy? I'm jumping from one dimension to another. I don't always have sound. Sometimes it's just a visual. Saw you two sitting here all chummy." Sahjhan complained.

"So, why do you wanna kill my husband?" Buffy asked.

"He wouldn't tell me either." Lilah said to Buffy and Angel. "Not that I need a reason. I was just curious." Then to Sahjhan, "Did he boink your demon bride? Eat your mother?" She looked from Sahjhan to Angel. "You really don't know who he is."

"You will pay." Sahjan said.

"For what?" Angel asked, genuinely confused. Sahjhan only turned and disappeared into thin air.

"Well, whatever his grudge, I think you just made him madder." Lilah said.

…

"Angel, Buffy." Wes said as Angel and Buffy entered the Hyperion.

"Where is everybody?" Angel asked.

"Fred and Gunn went for food. Lorne...had to go out. Liam and Delia had some future crisis to take care of."

"Do they need any help?" Buffy asked.

"I asked. They said it wasn't too much trouble now. In just a few days it would have been. I'm watching the baby. In fact, I packed up some overnight things. We talked about me taking Conner to the park and the one across from my place is... It's always full of kids. I thought he could spend the night with me." They just stood there looking at each other silently for a moment.

"That's probably a really good idea." Buffy said. Wes let out a breath.

"You wanna say good-bye?" Angel took Connor.

"Okay. Hey. He-he. Sleep tight, big guy." Angel smiled at Connor and gave him a kiss. "Mommy and Daddy will see you real soon." He handed Connor to Buffy and then said to Wes, "Just keep an eye... I check on him a lot during the night. You got his pediatrician's number, his baby formula?"

"I've got all that."

"You ever hear of a time-traveling demon by the name of Sahjhan?" Buffy cut in.

"No."

"The guy that brought Holtz here. He thinks I'm his sworn enemy. I don't know him from Adam. Can you hit the books before you go?" Angel asked. Wes watched Angel sit down on the settee in the lobby. The doors opened and Fred and Gunn came in.

"Hey. Where is Lorne? He better show his green face pronto, or Fred'll eat his hoagie." Gunn said.

"I will not! I already had two. Unless he's really not here?" Fred said.

"He had to go out." Angel informed.

"Where?"

"Where did you say he went?" Angel asked Wes.

"I don't know. He didn't say exactly. I think he had to see a client. You know, I've got better reference materials for your demon at home, and Connor is getting sleepy. Why don't I look into it there?" Angel looked from Wes to Connor in Buffy's arms, to Wes' outstretched hands, back at Connor and Buffy. Slowly, Buffy let Wes take the baby.

"Ah, okay. Just call me if you find something." Angel said. Buffy's hand lingered on Connor as Wes slowly stepped away.

"I guess, ah, I'll see everyone tomorrow."

"Hey, Wes?" Angel jumped up. Wes half turned back to look at Buffy and Angel. "What's the closest emergency room to your place?"

"Drew Medical. One minute away." Wes said after half a beat. Wes half- hurried towards the doors, curling around Connor. "Top infant care center. Don't worry." With that Wesley left.

"Well, our first whole night without the kid." Buffy said sadly. Angel put Connor's stuffed toys into the bassinet as Fred and Gunn watched him.

"This'll be good for all three of us. He can bond with his Uncle Wes..." Fred and Gunn exchanged a look and a smile. "We can get some rest." Angel looked down at the stuffed monkey.

"Yeah. Rest. Fun." Buffy said.

"We'll stay up with you guys." Gunn smiled.

"Really? Thanks. You know, he's just a little guy. I'm sure he'll be..." Angel broke off as they heard moaning coming from Wes' office.

"Is there someone in Wes' office?" Buffy asked. Before they could check, the front doors opened and Holtz strode in. At the same time several of his people appeared from different places all around the lobby. One even came halfway down the stairs from above. Angel and Buffy took quick looks around, marking all of Holtz' people.

"Won't you come in?" Angel said sarcastically.

"How is fatherhood treating you?" Holtz asked.

"I like it." Holtz' guys slowly closed in, raising their weapons. "You know I met a friend of yours tonight. A demon named Sahjhan?" Holtz slowly came down the front steps into the lobby. "What did he have to say?"

"He was a cryptic guy. Actually he was kind of long-winded. We didn't quite get what his deal was. I wasn't paying that much attention to him." Angel said. One of the men glanced into the bassinet, then almost imperceptibly shook his head at Holtz. "He hates me. Do you know why?"

"I don't really care why. So where is the little nipper?" Holtz asked.

"Oh, he had to go out. Sorry. I know he'd love to meet you." Buffy said.

"I'm sure he'll turn up." Holtz looked around again. "What about your doppelganger?"

"Taking care of some of his own business. Don't know anything about it. Next?"

"Looks like you made a nice life for yourself here." Holtz continued.

"Are you here to fight or shall I make some tea?" Angel inquired.

"I want to keep Angelus and that girl alive, but not well." Holtz' men attacked and Angel, Buffy, Gunn, and Fred fought back. Angel tossed one guy into the weapons cabinet, breaking the glass doors. Buffy made her way to it through some more of Holtz' men, took out the sharpened baseball bat and tossed it to Gunn. She picked up the broadsword for herself, but only used it to fend off the men's weapons. Neither she nor Angel were trying to kill, just to disable. When one of the men lifted a wooden staff to stake Angel after he got knocked to the ground, Buffy shot him in the back with a crossbow bolt. As she picked up another bolt to reload, one of the men tackled her to the floor. Lorne's green hand came up behind Wes' desk as Gunn got battered back into the office by two of Holtz' men. Lorne levered himself to his feet, and seeing Gunn getting battered down, let out a high shrieking that had everyone cower down, covering their ears. Lorne kicked one of Gunn's attackers in the face as he broke off his 'musical' assault, and Gunn knocked the other one out. Holtz quietly turned away and walked out the front doors. Angel sent the last attacker flying over the counter, looks at where Holtz was standing and saw the open doors, then walked over to pull the guy lying on Buffy's back off her and helped her up.

"Easy. Come on. Are you hurt?"

"I don't think so." Angel kissed her and rubbed her back where the guy had landed hard.

"Call Wes." Fred stumbled towards the phone. Angel saw Lorne, looking all bruised up, following Gunn out of the office.

"Jeez, Lorne. They got you good. You better sit down." Buffy said. Lorne just looked at Buffy and Angel.

"What?" they asked in unison.

"They didn't do this to me. Wesley did." The demon answered. Everyone turned to stare at Lorne.

"Wesley? What are you talking about?" Buffy asked.

"Well, earlier when he came to pick up the baby, Connor started crying and Wes hummed a little lullaby, and I read him and... I don't know why he did it."

"Did what?" Angel asked.

"He, he's been to see Holtz behind your guys' backs. Twice. And he's not taking the baby overnight. He's, he's taking your son away, for good."

"It doesn't make any sense. Why would Wes do a thing like that? You must have read him wrong." Buffy said in disbelief.

"No, I read him right. And I've got the gash on my noggin to prove it." Lorne said. Fred hung up the phone.

"He isn't answering his cell, pager, or home." Fred informed them.

"Where is he?" Angel asked. One of Holtz' guys, hand pressed over his side, inched along the floor.

"Shouldn't we be getting these guys to a hospital or morgue?" Lorne asked.

"No. Holtz knew Connor wasn't here when he walked through that door. He would have torn the place apart top to bottom. He was stalling." Angel said.

"Buying Wesley some time to get away." Lorne said.

"Holtz is the key. I want Holtz. If I find Wesley with him..." Angel seethed.

"Angel, we don't know the whole story here. I don't think you should get too pumped..." Gunn said.

"I'm not interested in what you think!" Angel snapped.

"Hey, easy guys!" Lorne said.

"He took my son." Buffy barked.

"I know this is life and death. I'm just saying, let's get..." Angel grabbed Gunn's shirt collar with both hands and pushed him back.

"He took our son!" he yelled at the man.

"You better get your damn hands off of me!"

"Stop it! Stop it both of you! This isn't helping, damn it!" Fred said pushing them apart. "Back off! There is only one thing that matters right now, and that is 'where is Connor?'" Gunn and Angel stood there staring at each other for a moment.

"A better question fruit punch." Lorne said. "Why isn't Liam here to help?" Everyone looked to Lorne. "I mean, if he knows everything about saving Connor, why isn't he here to stop Wesley form kidnapping him?" Buffy and Angel looked at each other. Then Angel brushed past Fred and Gunn to pull up one of Holtz' men. Buffy came to his side.

"Get up. Where is Holtz?"

"You'd think I'd tell..." the man started. Angel threw him clear across the lobby and picked up the next one. Angel pushed him up against the wall, pulled the crossbow bolt out of his side and held it up.

"I'm gonna count to three and then I'm gonna bury this in your face."

"Twenty two thirty nine Santa Elena. It's a big Victorian in Silverlake." He said. Angel let the guy drop to the floor and he and Buffy headed towards the door, Angel picking his broadsword off the floor as they went.

"We better find Wes before they do." Fred said.

"We should start at his place." Gunn said.

"What about Liam?" Lorne asked.

"We'll do this without him." Buffy stated and she and Angel left. Lorne watched as Gunn and Fred hurry out.

"I'll stay here in case they comes back." Lorne called. He bent down behind the counter and came up holding a baseball bat. "And this time I'll be ready!"

…

Wes walked out of his apartment building, carrying Connor and a suitcase. He pushed a button on his key chain and one of the cars by the curb chirped as it unlocked. He loaded the suitcase into the back. As he opened the side door he heard a moaning sound and turned to see a woman with red hair, arms wrapped around her middle, stumbling towards him through the park across the street. Still holding Connor with his left arm, he pulled a gun with his right and aimed it at the woman.

"That's close enough." Wes said. The woman stumbled to her knees and looked up at Wes through her disordered hair, crying. Her face was all bruised, and her lip bloodied. Wes recognized her anyway It was Justine. A woman that was working with Holtz. Wes had seen her the times he talked to Holtz. He tried talking to her to see the error of her ways. "Justine?"

"He's everything you said. - It's true." She said. Wes slowly lowered his gun and stepped closer.

"What happened?"

"Well - he didn't keep his word." Justine let out a pained laugh. Wes put the safety back on and put the gun away. Justine, arms still wrapped tightly around her middle, got back to her feet and stumbled closer. "He took everybody - and he went after the baby. And when I questioned him...Bastard! I'll kill him for this. - You have to get out of here." Justine fell against Wes.

"You have to get to hospital."

"No. I just to do..." Justine pulled out a knife and sliced it across the side of Wes' neck. Wes fell to his knees, pressing one hand over the cut, as Justine pulled the baby out of his grip. Wes watched Justine run to the car, put Connor in the passenger side then get in the driver's side, before toppling over onto his side. Blood was seeping through between his fingers as he lied there, watching her drive off. Wes stayed on the ground gasping for air and coughing.

A motorcycle sound was heard and a motorcycle pulled up and stopped nearby Wes. It had two people on it. The back male passenger got off and hurried over to Wes and kneeled by him. The driver turned off the engine and walked to Wes' other side. Wes looked up at them. The man took Wes' hand off of his neck wound and with his own hands, hovered them over the wound and began to chant. A blue glow emanated from his hands. The blood that seeped from the wound started to return to it. The cut healed and it looked like it was never there. Wesley coughed regularly and gasped for air. He turned on to all fours and breathed heavily as the woman patted and rubbed his back.

"Cutting it…" Wes coughed. "A little too close there."

"So did she." The woman said. It was Delia. "Are you going to be alright?"

"So long as Connor is safe after all this…." He coughed again and cleared his throat. "I'll be fine."

"Good." The man said. It was Liam. "Everything's going as planned."

**What do ya think? Liam has a plan and it looks like it's even more collaborative then Holtz' is. Next chapter shares some light on the subject. But tell me what you all think. Comment and Review. Ask questions. Things are going to get juicy.**


	20. Interest

Chapter 20: Interest (part 2)

**Here is part 2 of my 4 part Connor arc. This is more about Liam's plan for saving Connor and what has been going on behind everyone's back's. Hope you all enjoy.**

…

**One week before Connor's kidnapping**

Angel walked into Wes' office carrying Connor in his arms

"Working late?" Angel asked.

"Yes. - You startled me." We said noticing Angel and Connor

"Oh, we didn't mean to."

"I thought I was alone."

"Yeah." Angel looked at Connor with a smile. "So did I." Wes watched as Angel kissed Connor's cheek and walked back out of the office. Wes let out a sigh and looked back down at his notepad where it read

_The father - will kill - the son._

Wes stared at the writing in front of him. There was knock and Wes looked up. Liam stood there in the doorway looking at Wesley. Wesley looked back at Liam with realization.

"Hey Wes." Liam greeted him and sat down in a chair in front of Wes' desk. "Read anything interesting?"

"Liam…." Wes began. "Does Angel…..Is Connor…." Wes struggled to find the right question.

"Yes to all." Liam said. Wes looked confused. Liam leaned forward. "Yes, Connor is alive and well in my time before he dies. And yes, dad does kill Connor. But he's still alive after that." Wes was even more confused.

"I don't believe I follow."

"The prophecy there is 'the father will kill the son'." Wes nodded to Liam. "It's a false prophecy. No matter what anybody or anything tells you. It's false."

"How?"

"A demon named Sahjhan. He's incorporeal but can travel between time and the dimensions. He found the prophecy and rewrote it so that it said that dad would kill Connor."

"Why?"

"Because the true prophecy states that the vampire with a soul will bore a son and he will defeat Sahjhan. Sahjhan doesn't want to die so he rewrote the prophecy to mess with ya. In my time, you kidnapped Connor in fear that dad would kill him. You also tried to reason with Holtz to let both dad and Connor live. Holtz was willing to let Connor live….but as his own son. You kidnapped Connor and he was taken from you by one of Holtz' lapdogs. A woman by the name Justine Cooper. Sahjhan brought Holtz to the present to kill Angel and stop Connor's birth. Didn't work out. Once Holtz had Connor, Sahjhan and dad arrived to retrieve him. Sahjhan opened a portal to Quor'toth. One of the most horrible of hell dimensions. He threatened that if Connor wasn't killed, he would suck the world into hell. Under dad's urging so that Connor would live, Holtz took Connor and went into the hell portal. Sahjhan would later be corporeal and be trapped in some urn. Connor would come back a few days later, a fully grown teenager. He grew up trying to survive. The emotional trauma of being in a hell dimension and never knowing true family love, left him emotional scarred and psychotic. Connor tried killing dad on a number of occasions. Holtz would come back too and had Justine kill him and made it look like a vampire did it to frame dad. Connor would lock dad away but you saved him. Connor later found out the truth but he and dad were still at odds with each other. As were you and the gang. After a series of unfortunate events, Connor would suffer an emotional meltdown and tried to blow up dozens of innocents and himself. Dad was offered an opportunity that he usually wouldn't have taken, but by doing so would alter reality and give Connor what he failed to give him. A family, childhood, love. Things he was deprived of. He later got his memories back and he and dad were good again. He also killed Sahjhan at the same time. But when dad did the reality warp, he confronted Connor right before it happened. They fought and it ended with dad stabbing Connor just as the reality shift occurred." Wes stared in shock at everything Liam just explained to him. The prophecy was false and Wes actually believed it and was going to kidnap Connor and send him to the worst childhood possible. Wes actually had tears forming in his eyes.

"I….Connor…."

"Hey. Hey Wes. Don't go all weepy on me now." Liam stood up and went around Wes' desk and sat on it right next to him. "Look, it's not going to happen this time. Not if I can help it. But I need your help in order to stop it from happening." Wes wiped the tears from his eyes and composed himself. "If Connor is to have the actual childhood he deserves, I need your help. I need you to put your game face on and help me here." Wes looked up to Liam with a determined face.

"What do you need me to do?" Wes asked. Liam smiled at his 'uncle'.

…

**A few days before Connor's kidnapping**

The Angel-Hunters were watching a video recording of Gunn and Fred fighting a group of vampires. The woman named Aubrey led them there and it was recorded.

_"Behind you!"_ Fred said. Holtz paused it as Fred tossed the wooden spike to Gunn.

"This tiny girl, outsized, outmatched, outnumbered - and she survived." Holtz said and turned to his group. "Why? - Because she was willing not to. She was prepared to die for the cause rather than abandon her comrade. We, too, must be willing to die - but more so. Study this carefully. You'll be fighting these two very soon." He heard footsteps. "Perhaps sooner than I expected." Holtz, together with everyone else, turned to look at Aubrey. "They found you out."

"I am sorry." Aubrey said.

"It's not important. Of course I am rather annoyed you allowed yourself to be followed."

"Don't blame her." Came a voice. Aubrey and the others spun around to see Wesley standing in the doorway behind them. "I would have found you eventually." One of Holtz followers drew a knife and stalked closer to Wes.

"Maybe we should cut out his tongue - send a message to Angelus." He suggested.

"Maybe." Wes said before hauling back and hitting the man, dropping him to the ground. Holtz raised a hand to stop others from attacking Wes. "Or perhaps you could lie on the floor and gag for a while." He glanced around at the rest of the group. "I didn't come here to fight. I'm not your enemy. - But then I've noticed you do have trouble making that distinction. You're fighting the wrong man."

"Angelus." Holtz said.

"No. Angel. He's not Angelus anymore. He's a good man."

"He's not even a man."

"Nevertheless - he has a soul now."

"Yes. That he might know the pain that he has inflicted on his countless victims. A brilliant curse, I must admit. Gypsies 'do' have a knack for creative vengeance. Where they fail, however is in the execution of justice. And that I will have."

"If it's a sacrifice you require, take me. Angel's no more responsible for the crimes of Angelus than I am."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"And was it your hands that held down my beloved Caroline as she was violated and murdered? That wrapped themselves around my son's neck and snapped it like kindling? Where yours hands that clutched at my daughter as she was turned into a creature damned for all eternity? - Angelus is in his nature. The beast will re-emerge. You've seen it. You know it. And that is why you are here. - You're afraid he's going to kill the child." Wes looked from Holtz to Aubrey. "And you're right."

"Your infiltration was more successful than I'd realized."

"I don't need prophecies to tell me what is plain. So long as the child remains with the demon, it's not safe." Wes sticks his hands into his pockets.

"Well, I must have misunderstood. - Here I thought it was a simple blood vendetta, when - what you 'really' want is to protect Angel's son."

"You don't believe me."

"Hmm. Not sure really. Could be the low scary voice that's giving me trouble." Holtz' followers looked from Wes to Holtz.

"It's time to make a decision, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce. My army is strong and will only increase in number. Fight against us - and this war will become a bloodbath."

"This isn't war. It's revenge."

"What's wrong with revenge? It's all some of us have left." Justine stated.

"Look. I can't know what it's been like for any of you."

"You might soon enough." Holtz said. Wes just looked at Holtz. "When I put my son's body into the ground, I had to open the coffin, just to know that he really was in there. You also may discover - that a child's coffin, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce - it weighs nothing." Wes stood there, not saying a word.

…

Wes walked out of Holtz and his gang's lair and went to his car. He opened the door and got in.

"So what did you think?" Wes asked and looked the passenger's seat. Liam was occupying it. He was looking through a pair of binoculars at the lair.

"Perfect." Liam said. "So far they don't suspect anything. They think that you're paranoid. And the gears that are in Holtz' head are turning as we speak, plotting some way to use that paranoia to his advantage."

"So what now?" Liam lowered the binoculars while still staring at the lair.

"We let him plot. Then we make our move."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"Just remember our plan we made." Liam flashback to when he told Wes his entire plan.

…

_Wes and Liam met up with Delia at the hotel after Wesley agreed to help them. All of them were in Liam's bedroom. Liam stood around and paced. Delia sat cross legged on the bed. Wesley occupied a chair._

"_OK. So here's the plan." Liam started explaining his plan. "Holtz wants Connor. But not to protect him from Angel. But to raise him to hate Angel. Make him believe that his on father is the bad guy."_

"_You're planning on making sure that doesn't happen." Wes clarified._

"_Yes."_

"_But how exactly. If anything, Connor should leave LA immediately."_

"_It doesn't solve the problem Wes. It only prolongs it." Delia said. Wesley nodded to her._

"_Like I told you before. We need to take out all of Connor's enemies at once." Liam continued and sat down in a chair. "To do that, we need to let the course of history continue as it once was."_

"_Let it continue?" Wes asked. "How?"_

"_Simple." Liam leaned forward. "You are gonna go to Holtz and try to convince him that Angel is good."_

"_Why?" Wes asked. "I mean, don't you want him dead?"_

"_I do, but you need to make it look like you have doubts about staying with Angel. Holtz will try to exploit this and use it to his advantage. _

"_Then what?"_

…

At Holtz headquarters one of his men was punching a vampire, held in a chain harness. Justine was holding the end of the harness chain.

"Good!" she commented. The man stumbles back from a swing by the vampire. "He'd be sucking the life out of you right about now, Rick. Never take your eyes off a vampire. You have to feel where your fellow soldiers are! You can trust each other with your lives!" She pulled the vampire back to face her. The vampire swung at her. She kicked it and wrapped the chain around its neck forcing it to its knees. "Never! Ever! Trust a bloodsucker!" She tossed the vampire over her back. "Keep practicing!" One of the men grabbed the chain and hooked it to the wall. Holtz got up and walked into another part of the house. Justine followed him.

"I don't like it." Holtz said.

"They'll learn or they'll die."

"Oh, not that. They're coming right along. I - I don't like tea in these cotton cups."

"It's called Styrofoam - and I'll get you some China ones."

"Thank you, Justine. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"What is it you're not sure of - is it me?"

"No! It's... - these people that work for Angel - we may end up killing a lot of them."

"We may end up killing all of them."

"I'd follow you through the gates of hell to kill vampires, Daniel. You know that."

"But people - even evil people who help vampires...are another kettle of fish."

"They chose Angel." Justine said after a beat. "That makes them enemy soldiers."

"So I guess that makes it alright." Wes said coming in. Holtz turned to look at him.

"Mr. Wyndham-Pryce. How nice to see you again." Holt greeted.

"What the hell do you want?" Justine asked.

"Don't be rude Justine. He's our guest." Holtz looked at the two guys holding Wes and they let go and left. "And in the throes of a very difficult decision, I'd imagine." Holtz used a knife that was in his right hand to cut a slice off an apple and offered it to Wes. "You want some apple?"

"Pass." Wes replied. Holtz shrugged and at the piece of apple. "I don't wanna see anyone get hurt. Your soldiers - or mine."

"I share your hatred of violence, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce and I've meted out a good deal less of it in my lifetime than Angelus has in his."

"Angel"

"Whatever you wish to call him. I will never agree that he has somehow been absolved from the past by the presence of his soul."

"He's a vampire. End of discussion." Justine said and stepped closer to Wes holding up a knife. "And I'd bet you a dollar this one's here to stab us in the back." Wes just looked at her as she threatened him with the knife.

"Who did you lose?" he asked her.

"What?"

"You're here in Holtz' army - ready to kill others, die for the cause. You must have lost someone very important to you."

"That's none of your business."

"Her twin sister Julia was murdered by vampires." Holtz said.

"You lost family. I'm sorry." Wes said sincerely. He stepped closer to Justine. "Angel and the people I work with are 'my' family - and when I say I don't want to see anyone to get hurt..." He grabbed a hold of Justine's knife hand and twisted her around against him, grabbing her throat with his other hand. "...I mostly mean them." Holtz held up a hand to stop the rest of his guys from interfering as Justine gasped in Wes' grip. "But I don't stab people in the back." Holtz got up and stepped closer.

"You're an honest man." Holtz said. He took the knife out of Justine's hand. "I trust you." Wes let go of Justine and she spun away to stand behind Holtz. "And you can trust me."

"It's funny. I don't." Holtz sat back down.

"Well, your problem isn't me right now. - Your problem is, your friend is going to kill his own child. - You know you have to do something about it. - You know if you don't, I will." Holtz stood up and stepped closer to Wesley. "Don't misunderstand me. I won't stand by while an innocent child is murdered - but I won't attack and endanger other innocent lives unless I'm forced to."

"How long do I have?"

"I'll give you one day." Holtz turned away and sat back down on the edge of the desk. "You may not trust me, but I trust you to do what's right. One day. After that... – 'everyone' will get hurt." After a beat, Wes walked past Holtz without another word.

…

Wes walked back to his car and got in. He started up the engine and drove off. After driving and looking back over his shoulder to see if he was followed, he sighed.

"Alright Delia. You can come up now." Wes said. Delia got up from lying down in the back seat with a soda drink in her hand.

"Thank god." She said coming up. "Do you know how incredibly hard it is to drink lying down without spilling." Wes looked back at her.

"You spilled in my car?" he asked sounding appalled.

"Relax. Liam will pay for a new car if you want."

"That's not the p – Really? A new car?"

"Yes. But back on topic and the rode." Wes looked back at the rod and drove. "How did it go?"

"Just like we discussed. Justine did lose family. And I can see it in her eyes. She will do anything for Holtz."

"Then you better be prepared for what she'll do."

"I am." Wes flashbacked to the plan Liam explained to him.

…

_Wes, Liam, and Delia were discussing the plan in Liam's bedroom. _

"_Then what?" Wes asked._

"_Then you'll go back." Delia said standing up and walking over. "You'll tell Holtz that you don't want anyone to get hurt and attempt again to not have a fight break out."_

"_We need Holtz to believe that you are the key to getting Connor from mom and dad." Liam said._

"_But really, I'm the bait that lures him into a trap." Wes clarified. Liam nodded. "I would like to mention how incredibly uncomfortable I am about all this."_

"_I know. And believe me, I don't want to put you in any danger. But if we don't do this, Connor will have to live with looking over his shoulder every day of his life. And that won't be any different than when he was sent to Quor'toth. Besides, Delia is needed in another part of this plan so she couldn't act as bait."_

"_Yeah. Shame thought. I kinda like being bait." Delia said._

"_In any case, I would like to know more about my role and everything else about this plan." Wes said._

"_Of course. Once you meet with Holt a second time, you need to make some sorts impression on Justine."_

"_Justine?"_

"_Yes. She lost her sister to vampires. Sucks for her. But you need to make some impressions on her. Holtz will use it to get Connor."_

"_And we want him to do this?" _

"_Yes. Because then everything else will come together."_

"_What else?"_

…

LA at night. Wes was walking down a sidewalk in a residential neighborhood. Wes saw a child run out of a house to greet its father.

"Daddy!" he cheered. The dad caught the child

"Hey-hey! How are you, hmm?" The dad carried his child to the house, where his wife was waiting to welcome him. They went inside and Wes walked on.

"Oh, for god's sake." Wes said quietly. "I know you're better at following people than this." he said louder. Wes turned, and after a moment Justine stepped out from behind one of the trees lining the road. "So, what's the play?"

"I just..." Justine began. She walked closer. "need to talk to you. I'm alone. He doesn't know that I'm... I wanna talk to you about him."

"Holtz? Great guy, not overly tall. - Is this where you offer to help me behind his back?" Wes turned and continued down the sidewalk. Justine hurried after him.

"Do you believe in 'anything'? Or is it all just a big scam to you?"

"You're a soldier, fight to the death kind. I respect that. You work for a man, who you think is noble and good. I respect that. Trouble is, he's not."

"You work with a vampire."

"Who in fact 'is' noble and good." Wes said turning to face her. "Quirky, but there it is. Holtz talks about 'justice' and it's stirring, but what he wants is revenge. He's driven by it, blinded by it, and if you, me, or anyone else gets in his way, he'll kill for it."

"You're wrong. You don't know him. Everything that he's done for me, for all of us..."

"Sounds like a nice cult."

"He gave you his word. He'll keep it. You're the one who's blind."

"How so?"

"What you're about to do to your friend? I imagine it's easier to hate Holtz than yourself."

"There's enough to go around for both him and me. - Be careful." Wes turned and walked away. Justine watches him. Wes walked for a bit before stopping. "Both of you are better at following people then she was." Liam and Delia stepped out from the shadows and walked over to Wes. "What now?"

"Now almost all of the pieces are in play." Liam said. "We just have one more move to make."

"Sahjhan."

"Exactly." Delia said. "You need to go back to the hotel and be ready to kidnap Connor."

"And what of you two?" Delia and Liam looked at each other.

"I need to talk to my lawyer." Liam said. He flashbacked to plan he explained.

…

_Liam started to explain the final portion of his plan to Wesley._

"_What else?" Wesley asked._

"_Holtz and Justine will be together. The last person we want is Sahjhan."_

"_Who isn't a person at all." Delia pointed out._

"_True, but irrelevant at the moment. Sahjhan is right now incorporeal. We need to get him corporeal. That way he won't need to use dark magic to open the portal to Quor'toth. He'll just track down Connor and try to kill him."_

"_How do you intend to make Sahjhan corporeal?" Wes asked._

"_I know of an incredibly infamous law firm that might have just what we need."_

"_Wolfram and Hart."_

"_Exactly. Liam and I will go in and threat the right people to give us what we want." Delia said._

…

Linwood was sitting at his desk looking at paper work. Linwood looked up startled as the door burst open and banged off the wall. It was stopped by Liam who walked in and leaned on the door post. Delia came in and stood next to Liam and folded her arms.

"Knock. Knock." Delia said smirking.

"Well, isn't this a surprise." Linwood said. "Angel, here in my office. Or are you the double ganger, Liam?"

"What do you think?" Liam said walking towards Linwood's desk. "Del, watch the door." Liam ordered without breaking eye contact with Linwood. Delia closed the door and withdrew her sword from across her back. "You and I are going to work together Linwood." Linwood chuckled.

"I didn't know you had a sense of humor."

"This isn't a joke." Liam leaned on Linwood's desk. "We both have the same problem on our hands we're both going to fix it."

"And, what problem would that be?" Linwood asked folding his hands and leaning his elbows on his desk.

"Connor. Angel and Buffy's son. A demon's working to kill him. We both want him alive. I need your help to ensure that."

"What demon would want him dead?" Linwood asked curiously.

"A Granok demon named Sahjhan. Walks across dimensions. Brought Holtz here from the past. Wants Connor dead. Anymore questions?" Liam asked getting angry.

"Why does he want him dead?"

"Does it matter? He wants him dead. Both of us want him alive. Are interests are aligned. Are you going to help me or not?" Linwood leaned back in his chair.

"Well….I'll have our associates look into this demon of yours and….." Linwood didn't finish as Liam grabbed his desk and flung it to the side. Linwood reeled back in fear.

"I do not like having my time wasted. I'll give you one more chance. Help me or suffer."

"I doubt there's anything you can do that'll get me to talk. You however are facing trespassing, battery assault, threatening to commit violence."

"Who's threatening?" Liam pointed his hand at Linwood and bolts of electricity shot out and shocked Linwood. Linwood screamed in pain. Liam looked unfazed. Delia watched as Liam conducted his 'interrogation'. She rarely saw Liam torture anyone or anything. And if he did, it was for something dire. This counted. Delia supported him no matter what. She understood that in some situations, especially when it comes to family, you've gotta do what you've gotta do. Delia wasn't at all like Buffy or Angel when it came to self-sacrificing, but when family was involved she would follow her enemies to hell and back. She supported anything that would mean the safety of her family. And this included Connor. Liam stopped shocking Linwood and Linwood stopped screaming. He panted as smoke rose from his body from being shocked. "That was only a tenth of what I can do." Linwood looked horrified. "Maybe we should try again." Liam raised his arm again."

"No. no. no. Wait! Wait!" Linwood begged. Liam hesitated. "Let me call someone." Linwood took his phone out from his pocket, but it was badly burned.

"Next." Liam said. Linwood reached on the floor for his desk phone that still worked. He dialed a number and let it ring.

"Lilah? Linwood. I'm sending over a couple of clients, and I want you to listen very carefully because I have explicit instructions on how to deal with them. Give them anything they want."

…

Once Liam and Delia got what they wanted out of Linwood, Liam repaired his office with a wave of a hand. Then he used the same memory herb that Dawn used to wipe everyone memories before, to wipe Linwood's. He had no idea that Liam or Delia was in his office.

Lilah, Liam, and Delia walked down the halls of Wolfram and Hart.

"Torturing Linwood." Lilah said. "You guys are really stepping up to it. The white room. I mean, they just don't talk about it. God, the white room. I was here three years before I even heard of it. Did he tell you what was in it?""

"Answers." Liam said as they came to an elevator. "Up or down?"

"Up." Liam pushed the up button and they entered. Once inside Liam pulled out a piece of paper then punched the floor buttons in a certain sequence. "He tell you how to get there? There was a guy in litigation. He went to the white room in September. He's in an asylum now." Lilah continued. Liam pulled out one of the buttons, and a new, bigger button appeared above the other ones. "Wow. I should probably hold on to..." Lilah reached for the paper in Liam's hand, but he stuffed it in his pocket. Liam pushed the button and the elevator dissolved into a blinding white light. When the brightness dimmed, Liam, Delia, and Lilah found themselves in a big, white, empty room.

"Hello." A little girl's voice said behind them. They turned around to see a little girl sitting primly in a chair.

"Liam. Delia. Lilah, your fingernails are pretty. I love red." She turned to Liam. "You I cannot sense what and you really are. I know that you are part demon." Liam just stared at her. "I guess I can figure it out eventually. So what's up?"

"A demon named Sahjhan is going to try and take my friends' son away." Liam said.

"Oh, do you want the son to be with his family?" Liam took a step forward, but Delia put a hand on his arm and he stopped. "You want Sahjhan. Nowadays you can walk right through him, but in the past they were something else." A picture appeared and they saw Sahjhan cutting off one warrior's head then turning to engage another armored warrior in a scraggly forest. "They were all about torture and death. You can relate. Well, they caused a lot of trouble. Don't get me wrong. I like trouble. But I hate chaos. So we changed 'em."

"You made them immaterial." Liam said.

"Smart boy." They saw Sahjhan attack another warrior, but their weapons went right through the other without causing any kind of damage. "Now they watch, and they can no longer touch." The picture changed and they saw an urn and some chanting monks. "There is a special urn that can capture their essence." A demon like Sahjhan came into the chamber. One of the monks opened the urn and the demon was sucked into it in a streak of light. "They're expensive and hard to come by. But you don't want his essence in a jar. You want something you can sink your teeth into." Liam slowly turned his head to look at Lilah. "You know these things always come at a price. Kill Lilah." Lilah looked from the girl, then to Liam, who was reaching over without hesitation to break Lilah's neck. The girl let out a giggle, but stopped him before he could complete the action. "That's good for now." Liam let Lilah go. "I can see why they respect you. Now, as to your demon made flesh. It's a big ritual. All here." The girl held up her hand. On it lay a folded piece of parchment. The paper disappeared from her hand and reappeared in Delia's. "Can't wait to see how it turns out." The girl said as the room flared white and disappeared.

…

Liam straightened up from painting a pentagram on the floor of a warehouse. They decided to do the ritual in some place that the team won't find them.

"What's next?" Liam asked.

"Human blood." Delia said consulting the notes. Liam took the paper from her and read it, then they looked to Lilah. "You want me to do it?" Lilah picked up a knife and walked over dribbled some of her blood onto the middle of the pentagram. "Damn." Liam started to read from the paper.

"Corpus granok Sahjhan demonicus." A blue light began to swirl around the painted circle, and then congealed into a vaguely humanoid shape in the middle of the pentagram. Delia reached for her sword. Liam stood ready in a fighting stance. There was a flash of light and a burst of wind and then the pentagram was dark and empty again.

"Where is he?" Lilah asked.

"The ritual only made him corporeal. He'll be going after Connor next." Liam answered and turned to her. "And that's we're we'll meet next." Lilah looked confused. Liam pulled out the memory herb and said the incantation. The herb glowed and Lilah closed her eyes. She stumbled a little but got her balance. Liam waved his hand and Lilah disappeared in a burst of light.

"Where'd you send her?" Delia asked.

"Back to Wolfram and Hart." Liam answered and started pouring gasoline over the pentagram. "She won't remember us being there and she'll go through with her plans to assemble an ops team and go after Sahjhan, Holtz, and Connor." He finished pouring the gas and lit a match. He dropped the match and the gas caught on fire. Liam turned to leave. Delia followed.

"And that's where we'll meet them?"

"Just after we make a quick stop." Liam and Delia got outside and rode off on Delia's motorcycle as the warehouse they just left caught on fire.

…

"_Just to be more on the safe side, I'll wipe their memories so that they won't know that we were there. We want Wolfram and Hart to be at the sight where everything comes together. But we don't want more than we can eat."_

"_I think it's more than you can chew." Delia corrected him._

"_I like mine better."_

"_Wait. So let me clarify." Wes said. "You want me to deceive Buffy and Angel and kidnap Connor." Liam and Delia nodded. "Holtz and Justine will kidnap him from me." More nodding. "And you both will make a very powerful demon corporeal to go after Connor to kill him." Nodding again. "Do you both see how this can go very wrong?!" he practically shouted. "You said Sahjhan was killed by Connor. Connor is meant to kill him but if you make him corporeal, Connor will be defenseless."_

"_I know." Liam said. "But I'll be there. The prophecy states that the son of the vampire with a soul will defeat Sahjhan." Wes nodded. "Who's right in front of you?" Wes got it._

"_You're going to fight Sahjhan?"_

"_Yes. I fight Sahjhan and defeat him. Connor won't have to."_

"_What about Holtz and Justine? And Wolfram and Hart?" Liam and Delia looked at each other and smiled, then they turned back to Wes. _

"_That's the fun part." Delia said. Wes looked shocked at her answer._

"_Just focus on what you have to focus on." Liam said. "Everything else will fall into place and we will have Connor back and every one of his enemies, dead."_

…

Wes walked out of his apartment building, carrying Connor and a suitcase. He pushed a button on his key chain and one of the cars by the curb chirped as it unlocked. He loaded the suitcase into the back. As he opened the side door he heard a moaning sound and turned to see a woman with red hair, arms wrapped around her middle, stumbling towards him through the park across the street. Still holding Connor with his left arm, he pulled a gun with his right and aimed it at the woman.

"That's close enough." Wes said. The woman stumbled to her knees and looked up at Wes through her disordered hair, crying. Her face was all bruised, and her lip bloodied. Wes recognized her anyway It was Justine. A woman that was working with Holtz. Wes had seen her the times he talked to Holtz. He tried talking to her to see the error of her ways. "Justine?"

"He's everything you said. - It's true." She said. Wes slowly lowered his gun and stepped closer.

"What happened?"

"Well - he didn't keep his word." Justine let out a pained laugh. Wes put the safety back on and put the gun away. Justine, arms still wrapped tightly around her middle, got back to her feet and stumbled closer. "He took everybody - and he went after the baby. And when I questioned him...Bastard! I'll kill him for this. - You have to get out of here." Justine fell against Wes.

"You have to get to hospital."

"No. I just to do..." Justine pulled out a knife and sliced it across the side of Wes' neck. Wes fell to his knees, pressing one hand over the cut, as Justine pulled the baby out of his grip. Wes watched Justine run to the car, put Connor in the passenger side then get in the driver's side, before toppling over onto his side. Blood was seeping through between his fingers as he lied there, watching her drive off. Wes stayed on the ground gasping for air and coughing.

Liam and Delia pulled up nearby Wes. Liam hopped off and hurried over to Wes and knelt by him. Delia turned off the engine and walked to Wes' other side. Wes looked up at them. Liam took Wes' hand off of his neck wound and with his own hands, hovered them over the wound and began to chant. A blue glow emanated from his hands. The blood that seeped from the wound started to return to it. The cut healed and it looked like it was never there. Wesley coughed regularly and gasped for air. He turned on to all fours and breathed heavily as Delia patted and rubbed his back.

"Cutting it…" Wes coughed. "A little too close there."

"So did she." Delia said. "Are you going to be alright?"

"So long as Connor is safe after all this…." He coughed again and cleared his throat. "I'll be fine."

"Good." Liam said. "Everything's going as planned." He and Delia helped Wes to his feet.

"She took my car." Wes informed them.

"We can make it on the bike."

"What do you want me to do now?"

"Go back to the hotel. Find the rest of the team. Buffy and Angel are surely on their way to find Connor. You go and find the team. Explain everything. Tell them about the plan. And tell them that interfering at this point will surely lead to Connor's abduction and we might never get him back."

"What if they try to leave anyway?"

"Tell them that they had better be at the top of the list for transplants of organs and body parts." Liam said darkly. "No one is going to stand in my way of saving Connor."

"What if they try to hurt me for kidnapping Connor and plotting with you behind their backs?"

"Tell them that if they harm you, I'll harm them worse." Delia said. Wes nodded to them.

"Be careful you two. Everything up to this point resides now on everyone taking the bait you set out."

"They'll take what they desire most." Liam said. "We gotta go." Liam and Delia went to the motorcycle and got on. Delia revved it up.

"I hope you are victorious in your campaign." Wes said to them. Liam nodded to him and he and Delia rode off, leaving Wes looking after them. "God's speed." He wished to them and turned to walk the other way.

**Here ends part 2. Part 3 will be the confrontation of everyone. And Part 4 will be the finishing touch on it all. Comment and Review.**


	21. Desire

Chapter 21: Desire (Part 3)

**Here is part 3 of my part 4 Connor story arc. It gets better. This is kinda short than my usual chapters and there is a reason for it. But it's still pretty good. Enjoy.**

Wesley rushed into through the hotel doors. He left Liam and Delia to continue the rest of the plan to retrieve Connor and take down his enemies. Wes never liked the plan, but he knew Liam and Liam had a way of making things work when they seem ridiculous and completely dangerous. Wes was wary in it, but he wished Liam luck on his endeavor. Wes looked around at the apparent empty lobby for any sign of the A.I. team. There wasn't any. Wes took a few more steps into the lobby.

"Wesley." Wes heard a familiar voice. He turned to look at Lorne who was in his office. Part of him was concealed behind the door post. Wes surmised that Lorne had a weapon of sorts. "What a surprise to see you here. I thought you would have gone off with Connor and plan our execution with Holtz."

"I'm sorry, Lorne." Wes apologized.

"Oh. You're sorry? You conked me over the head. Kidnapped Connor and you have been meeting Holtz behind our backs. Behind Angel and Buffy's backs. The people who trusted you with their lives. And since you don't have him anymore that means Holtz must have him."

"Yes. But not by me. Everything that I've done has been by Liam's orders." Lorne looked surprised and stepped out further from the office. Wes was right. Lorne was holding a bat as a weapon.

"What are talking about Wes?"

"It's a very long story. I think it best if everyone else was here."

"Well, Angel-cakes and blondie went to get little Connor back from you. Fred and Gunn are out trying to find you."

"I'll call Fred and Gunn." Wes pulled out his cell phone, just as it began to ring. He flipped it open. "Hello?"

"_Wesley? It's Fred. Where are you? Where's Connor?"_

"_Wait. You mean you actually got a hold of him." _Wes heard Gunn's voice. He then heard a fumbling for the phone. _"Listen up English. Right now you're number one on our wanted list. So you better talk fast on why you kidnapped Connor."_

"And I will Gunn. You and Fred meet me back at the hotel. There's much to explain. Oh, and don't call Angel and Buffy."

"_Why not?"_

"Because Liam doesn't want them here. He wants them out looking for Connor." With that, Wes hung up.

"Wesley?" Lorne said stepping a bit closer. "Are you telling me that Connor's kidnapping and him getting into Holtz' hands was all Liam's idea?" Wes hesitated before answering.

"Every bit of it."

…

Buffy and Angel hid in the bushes and watched Lilah and the commandos talked.

"Ma'am." A soldier greeted Lilah as she stepped out of a black suburban. Lilah walked over to the commander of the group.

"What do we know?" she asked.

"No Holtz, no baby." He indicated to two men tied up on the wall. "Two stragglers from the attack at Angel's hotel. They don't know where Holtz went."

"Get them off the street." The commander motioned to his men and they lead the two guys away. "So we're in the right place."

"Yeah." Lilah looks at him.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, ma'am." The commander said after a beat. "But Holtz didn't come back here after the hotel."

"Where'd he go?"

"Uh, we had him, and we lost him." The lead guy said, then he put a finger up to his earpiece. "Ah, we're picking him up again. Please, just give me a moment, please. Spring Street."

"Downtown?"

"Yes, ma'am. Near the sixth-street bridge."

"Let's go."

"Sixth Street Bridge, let's go!" All the men ran to their vehicles. One of the guys was yelling, "Let's go! Hustle! Hustle!" As one of the commandos got ready to get into his Hum-vee, Angel and Buffy jumped out from behind the bushes. They smashed him into a post, then a tree, knocking him out. The driver of the Hum-vee looked over towards the passenger side when his partner didn't get in. The driver's side door opened and Buffy and Angel threw him out on the street, got in and drove off after the rest of the cavalcade.

…

Gunn and Fred entered the lobby. Wes was sitting on the settee as Lorne sat at the reception desk with a sea breeze in hand.

"Alright Wes." Gunn acknowledge him. "We're here. Now what's this about Liam and not talking to Buffy and Angel and kidnapping Connor?"

"Wesley, what's going on?" Fred asked. Wes lifted his head towards them. He got up and gestured for them to sit on the settee.

"You should sit down." He said. "There is a lot to cover." Fred and Gunn did as Wesley asked. Wes took in a breath and exhaled it. "About a week ago, I uncovered a prophecy about Connor. It said that 'the father will kill the son'." Fred gasped at his words Gunn looked stunned. "This however, was a false prophecy. I discovered only after Liam came to me and told me that it was false." Wes begun to pace. "Apparently in his time, before he came here, I would go to all sorts of resources and data looking for a way for this prophecy to be wrong. There wasn't one. In the end, I would go to Holtz in an attempt to talk him out of killing Angel and Connor. Holtz only wanted to take Connor to keep him safe form Angel. I was smitten by that purpose which lead me to kidnap Connor to save him from Angel."

"But Angel would never hurt Connor." Fred said.

"I know. But apparently I didn't then. Connor was taken from by Holtz and Justine and he apparently was sent to a hell dimension for sixteen years. While only a few days past here. Living in a hell dimension for all that time made Connor psychotic and emotional scarred. Connor would come back a full grown teenager and try to kill Angel. But after learning who his real father is, Connor was an ally of us. But he and Angel had a rocky relationship. After a series of unfortunate events that know nothing of, Connor would suffer and emotional break down and attempt to kill himself and several innocents." At this point Fred looked shocked and horrified. Gunn wasn't starring at Wes but in deep space, listening to Wes' story. Lorne listened carefully while drinking a refill of sea breeze. "During that time, Angel would be given an offer where he would be able to alter reality and give Connor a new family, love, and new memories. He would give Connor everything he failed to give him."

"Wait. Go back." Gunn said. "You said that that prophecy you found was false." Wes nodded. Why did someone make a false prophecy?"

"Sahjhan. A demon that is incorporeal and can travel through dimensions and apparently can walk across time. He knew of the original prophecy which stated that the son of the vampire with a soul would kill him. Sahjhan feared this and brought Holtz to us to kill Angel. When that didn't work, he attempted to take matters into his own hands by opening up the portal to the hell dimension. He would later be made corporeal and Connor would kill him once his memories were restored. Connor and Angel had a fairly good relationship after that. He and Liam became good brothers." Wes paused to let the information sink in. "Liam intends to prevent Connors childhood."

"How?" Lorne asked. "I mean, everything seems to be playing out exactly as you just told us."

"That's how Liam wanted it. He needed Holtz to get Connor to get everyone that is after him in one place. Liam and Delia then will kill everyone that is after Connor. Holtz and Sahjhan."

"How come I didn't see all this when you hummed earlier?" Wes put his hand into his pocket and withdrew a vial.

"This vial contained a potion that could block empaths and mind readers from seeing things. Liam gave it to me."

"He knew that I might read you." Lorne said realizing everything.

"Yes. Liam has been planning this whole thing out from the beginning. He wants to kill every one of Connor's enemies so that he could live the childhood he deserves to have." Wes finished his story to the team.

"Wow." Lorne said. "And here I thought Wolfram and Hart had lunatics."

"Lunatics?" Gunn practically yelled and got up. "Try insane. Try Crazy to the tenth power. Try anything that is beyond a lunatic. Liam is actually planning on using his own brother as bait to kill off every last of his enemies?" Wes nodded. "And you helped him all with this?"

"The way Liam explained it, there wasn't any other way to do it." Wes defended himself. "I believe that this plan is something that never should have been thought of. I never wanted to go through with it. But the way Liam explained everything and the possible consequences, I couldn't rally say 'no' now could I?" Gunn just shook his head and looked away from Wesley.

"Where are Liam and Delia now?" Fred asked.

"On their way to where everyone will met up to fight over Connor. Liam plans on something there. I just don't know what. But he intends on making sure Connor isn't sent to Quor'toth. That is the primary objective. The secondary is killing Sahjhan."

"Oh, so it doesn't matter if Buffy and Angel get him back. Yeah, that's real love right there." Gunn said sarcastically.

"If he isn't sent to a hell dimension then we have a better chance of retrieving him before Holtz can poison his mind. I don't like it any better than any of you but what other choice in the matter do we have." No one answered Wes. "I'm sorry. I really am. And I'll take any punishment worth of my actions. But for right now, the only thing we can do…..is pray."

…

Buffy and Angel spotted the car with Holtz, Justine, and Connor in it. They were driving off, only to have a Hum-vee overtake them and cut them off. The car turned off the road, but it was quickly blocked in by more Hum-vees. Angel and Buffy jumped out of the one they were in and charged the car. Holtz got Connor out of the back while Justine tackled Angel only to get thrown aside by Buffy. Holtz stopped.

"Come any closer and I'll snap his neck!" Holtz threatened. Angel and Buffy came to a dead stop. All around them commandos were jumping out of their vehicles, cocking their machine guns. "Who are they?" Holtz asked.

"They work for me." Lilah replied.

"Ah. The attorney."

"Yes. You are gonna give us the kid, Captain Holtz."

"Don't!" Buffy and Angel yelled.

"That's cute. You'd rather see the fanatic with the baby than us?" then to Holtz, "Those are automatic weapons pointed at you. They didn't have them in your time. They fire sixteen bullets per second."

"And if they were going to use them they would have already. They want the baby alive." Angel said.

"Something we all have in common." Holtz replied.

"Not all of us." A voice said. Everyone looked to see Sahjhan walking into the area. Two commandos held their rifles up at him. Sahjhan easily knocked them several yards away.

"You're corporeal?" Lilah asked.

"Yeah. Cool hunh? Not sure how. But it'll make things so much easier. You do not want the child alive. You want the child dead. That was our arrangement."

"Yeah. I'm a lawyer. Have you met me? We have a new arrangement. I'm keeping the baby." Lilah retorted.

"I'm not going to let you do that."

"We're leaving." Holtz said.

"No one's going anywhere." Lilah snapped. One of the commandos stepped closer, and Buffy knocked him down, taking the weapon away from him and turning it on Lilah.

"Don't shoot." Lilah said. Buffy handed the gun to Angel. She hated guns and she was shaking badly enough right now as it is.

"Yeah. You really don't want to. Your bullets won't kill me. But mine will kill you and her first." Angel said. Angel looked over at Holtz and Connor then to Buffy and back.

"He'll be dead before I hit the ground." Holtz stated.

"I know."

"So. I'm going to leave now, right? With me, he gets to live, anyone tries to take him, he dies." Angel looked at Buffy, she nodded.

"Take him." Angel said after a beat.

"Whoa! No! What is wrong with you people?" Sahjhan asked.

"I will take good care of him, as though he were my own son." Holtz said to Buffy and Angel "He'll never even know you existed. Don't come after me. You will though, won't you? Maybe I should just..."

"No. Please." Buffy said, a tear moving down her cheek. Justine looked from Holtz' hand moving closer to Connor's neck, to Angel and Buffy, and back.

"Take him." Buffy and Angel said painfully together.

"Oh-no. No-one's taking him." Sahjhan said. "And you can't threaten to kill him because I want him dead." Sahjhan moved towards Holtz and Connor. "And since you don't have that urn with you, you can't really do jack can you."

"You can't touch him." Holt retorted.

"Did you not see my little entrance earlier? I can touch things now." There were gunshots as Lilah gave the order to open fire on Sahjhan. Sahjhan just stood there as the bullets bounced of his skin. The firing stopped. "Wow. That tickled." He turned to Lilah. "Remind me to repay the favor." Then back to Holtz. "Give me the kid." Holtz held Connor away from Sahjhan. Sahjhan took a few steps closer. Buffy and Angel watched with unease. Then they all heard the sound of a motorcycle growing louder. A motorcycle with Delia driving and Liam on back came into the area between two Humvees. Everyone turned to see the new arrivals. Sahjhan looked just as Delia passed him and Liam gave him a good punch flying by. Sahjhan went to the ground. Delia did a few doughnuts before stopping. Liam immediately got off and stood in the middle of group. Delia remained on the bike. Sahjhan got to his feet. "Well, didn't expect this." Liam glared at Sahjhan and Holtz. "So you're this double ganger I keep hearing about. You look like Angel, but you don't seem to have his eyes."

"That's because I have my mothers." Liam said and pointed to Buffy. "Hers." Buffy and Angel stared in shock. They knew what he was planning on doing.

"Liam, don't." Buffy said.

"I have to." Liam turned back to everyone else. "My real name is Liam Rupert Wesley Summers. And Buffy and Angel…are my parents."

"What!?" Sahjhan said. Lilah looked stunned at the new revelation. Holtz and Justin looked at Liam.

"That's right." Liam continued. "I am Buffy and Angel's second son from the future. I came back in time to save my family. Which includes Connor." Sahjhan continued to stare at Liam in shock. "What's the matter Sahjhan? Things not going the way you intended? Didn't expect that another son of the vampire with a soul was amongst you? Don't worry. That happens. But it looks like you have bigger things to worry about then a tiny-weeny-itsy-bitsy-baby."

"You made me corporeal." Sahjhan said getting it. Liam nodded. "That was a big mistake."

"We'll see. But first, I'm gonna offer you a deal."

"A deal?"

"A deal?" Lilah asked.

"Yes. I offer everyone a deal." Liam continued. He looked to Holtz. "Holtz and Justine go free with Connor. No one follows."

"What!?" Buffy and Angel said together.

"If they don't leave, Connor could die." Liam said to them. Buffy and Angel didn't protest, Buffy just had tears in her eyes for what Liam was doing and what could happen to Connor. "They leave." Liam continued. "And you don't go after them." He said to Sahjhan. "And you get me instead."

"Liam!" Buffy said.

"Mom I got this." Liam said not even turning to Buffy. "You get me. I mean, what's more of a threat Sahjhan? A baby, or a full grown ass man?" Sahjhan hesitated. Everything made sense to him. He didn't' really no why. "You beat me, you can go after Connor. I'll be dead. So what would I care?" Sahjhan nodded his head. "Good. Now everyone seems happy."

"Uh…excuse me." Lilah said. Liam turned to Lilah. "You said that everyone's going to win here. How am I?"

"Simple. You wanted Connor because he was born from a vampire and a slayer. I'll offer you something better."

"What?" Lilah asked curiously. Liam pointed to Delia.

"Someone from the future." Lilah looked to Delia who glared at her. "I mean what's better? An impossible baby, or a girl from the future that could tell you about the future?"

"Interesting." Lilah said sounding impressed. Liam smiled. His plan was working perfectly so far. He deliberately left out the part about Delia being a slayer. Lilah will no soon enough.

"You get her, if you leave the rest of my family alone." Liam offered. Lilah looked at Delia before looking at Liam. "Deal?"

"Deal. Everyone move in on the girl." Lilah gave the order. The commandos started to move in.

"Catch me if you can." Delia said before revving up the bike and riding off. Knocking over three commandos as she left.

"After her!" The commandos and Lilah got into the Humvees and rode off to follow Delia. Liam stared as he saw his wife ride off, hoping that she would make it after all this. Liam looked to Holtz as they left.

"Go." He said to him. "Take care of him." Holt nodded to Liam. "But Holtz, if anything happens to him, if he is in anyway not a good person…..I…will…kill you. I will find you. I will scour the far reaches of this earth and this dimension looking for you. If he isn't a noble good person, I will kill you."

"You have my word." Holtz said. Liam nodded. Holtz and Justine went to Wes' car with Connor.

"No." Buffy and Angel cried.

"Mom, dad, stay where you are." Liam demanded.

"But…" Buffy tried to protest.

"But NOTHING!" he yelled. Buffy stopped with tears in her eyes. Her own son that came back to save his brother was telling her not to save him. She didn't know what was going on. Justine started the car and rode off with Holtz and Connor. Once they were gone, Liam turned to his parents. "Go! Get after them. Do whatever you have to. Just get Connor back." The parents didn't question at all. They ran to the remaining Humvee, got in, and rode off. Buffy looked back at her son before turning to where her other one was. Liam saw them off. "Alright Sahjhan. I guess we should just….." Liam was cut off as a powerful fist connected with his face. Liam went back several yards before sliding on the asphalt and stopping. "Duke it out." Sahjhan walked towards him.

"Told you it was a bad idea to make me corporeal. I'm more powerful than any demon you've ever faced."

"Then tell me how…" Liam got to his feet. "How it is that my brother killed you in the future?"

"Don't know. Don't really care at the moment. He's the one to kill me. You aren't. I'll finish you off first. Then I'll take care of him. And me being in this new form, being all touching things now, makes it a whole lot easier."

"Actually it makes it harder." Liam said taking his coat off and throwing it to the side. "Cause you gotta go through me."

"Be glad to." Sahjhan swung at Liam, but Liam bent down to dodge the blow and went behind Sahjhan. He kicked and punched at the demon from behind. Nothing really happened. Liam looked worried as Sahjhan turned to face him.

"Perhaps we could make a new deal?" Liam offered. Sahjhan hit him again and Liam went flying back. He landed with a thud on the ground and supported a slip lip. "I'll take that as a 'no'." He got back up. Sahjhan came over and the two of them exchanged blows. Liam was clearly losing. Every few blows he dealt, he got. But Sahjhan seemed well taught in fighting. He blocked shot after shot and he threw his own punches, scoring most of them on Liam. He hit Liam hard and Liam went stumbling back. He had a bruise on his left temple and he had a cut on his forehead. Liam shook it off and continued with the fight.

…

Delia was riding through the streets of LA in the dead of night. The plan seemed to be coming together apparently. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw Wolfram and Harts ops team hot on her tail. Delia revved up her bike and went faster. She didn't need to fight them, just get them as far away from Connor as she could. She would also try to lose them so that she could go and help Liam with Sahjhan. Liam told her his plan for Sahjhan and if she could get there in time, she might be able to prevent him from doing something that could kill him.

Lilah and the Commandos were in hot pursuit of Delia. Lilah sat in the back seat of a Humvee with the commander as the rode along, following Delia.

"Go faster." Lilah ordered.

"We're doing our best." The commander replied.

"Do better. If I don't have that baby, I had better have something worth more to us than it. This girl is that something."

"She won't escape from us ma'am. We'll catch her." They continued the pursuit. But it didn't seem like anyone was progressing in it. Delia turned down a street and went down an alley. The Humvees couldn't follow her. They stopped as Delia rode through the alley.

"Keep driving." Lilah said. "We can cut her off at the next intersection." The Humvee drove off. Delia turned back and noticed the Humvees not following her. She smiled and looked forward. She came out of the alley and went down a street. She was suddenly caught off as the Humvees blocked her way. Delia spun around and went in the other direction. The Humvees followed. "This is getting us nowhere." Lilah said. "Can you shoot her bike? Maybe the tires?"

"Yes ma'am." The commander said and stuck half his body out the Humvee window. He cocked a pistol and took aim. He shot three times and missed each one. Delia moved all over the road trying to avoid the gun fire.

"Shit!" Delia said. The commander aimed and fired again. Three shots. He got Delia's back tire on the third shot. Delia did her best to control the bike but it was useless. "O h Fuck, Fuck, Fuck." She said as she failed to control the bike and it toppled over. She rolled on the ground and bike skidded to a stop. Delia got up from her motorcycle crash. She limped for a few feet before walking it off and running into an alley. She ran only several feet before stopping. She ran into a dead end. She looked up and saw no way for her to scale the wall without being completely exposed. The Humvees of Wolfram and Harts Ops team pulled up to where Delia crashed and got out. Lilah got out too and smiled.

"Secure the area." she gave the orders. "Use non-lethal shots. We want her alive." The team moved into the alley. Delia turned around to face the team and Lilah. The commandos all had tazer rifles, similar the ones Riley and the Initiative had. Lilah was behind the group with her arms crossed looking smug. "Looks like you backed yourself into a corner."

"I've been in tighter situations." Delia shot back. She looked all around the alley for an escape route. She didn't find one.

"Not tight enough it seems. Take her." Lilah ordered. The ops team moved in. Delia looked at everyone in the alley and studied them carefully. She looked back at Lilah with a determined, piercing look.

"It's a brilliant plan really, but you forgot one thing." Lilah raise an eyebrow.

"Oh really? What's that?"

"I…always…win." Delia went for her sword across her back. The commandos all shot their tazer rifles and electricity lit up the alley.

…

Across town, Delia wasn't the only one that was in a hot pursuit chase. Angel and Buffy were hot on Holtz and Justine's tail. Justine drove Wesley's car as Holtz held Connor in the driver's seat.

"Faster." He ordered her.

"Doing my best." Justine replied. "But we also don't want to attract the attention with the police."

"Then lose them."

"Trying." Justine tried different maneuvers to lose Angle and Buffy, but nothing worked. It would take more than hellfire to prevent Angel and Buffy from retrieving their son. Angel was driving the Humvee with only one goal in mind. Get Connor back. He wasn't going to let anything stop him. Buffy was the same. She was riding shotgun, focusing all on the car in front and how to retrieve Connor.

"Faster." She said to Angel.

"Foots all the way on the accelerator Buffy." Angel informed her. "Going as fast as I can go."

"Then get me close." She said.

"What?" Angel didn't need an explanation from her. Buffy climbed through the passenger door window and hopped up onto the roof of the Humvee. Angel understood. He put his foot down on the accelerator and went as fast as he could go. The Humvee inched closer to Wes' car. Buffy estimated and jumped off the roof and onto the hood and leapt towards the car in front, barely grabbed onto the back bumper of Wes' car. She skidded on the road as Justine swerved in an attempt to get Buffy off. Buffy clung on tight as she was dragged. It ruined her perfectly nice jeans though. But it would all be worth it if Connor was safe. Justine kept swerving. Buffy thought of an idea. She turned her body so that she could see Angel and Humvee. She waved her hand and singled to Angel to back off. She pointed to herself and held a finger to her lips to signal silence. Then pointed up to indicate that she was going to sneak up on Holtz and Justine. Angel got the message and stopped abruptly to make it look like he was stopping to get Buffy. Buffy's plan worked. Justine looked back and saw Angel stopping. She looked back in front of her and stopped swerving and started to slow down. After a minute, Angel drove the Humvee and followed where Justine and Holtz went. He wasn't going to let his wife fight those two on her own. No matter how powerful she was. Buffy waited for a bit, ignoring the pain of her being dragged on asphalt. She then started to slowly climb up and peered over the edge of the car. She could hear Holtz and Justine talking.

"I think we lost them." Justine said.

"Good. Now we can work on raising our new baby. Steven Franklin Thomas Holtz." That got Buffy mad. Taking her baby was one thing. But naming him and raising him as someone's own without her consent. That got her pissed. Buffy leaped over the edge into the backseat. Justine barely had time to notice the new arrival as Buffy slammed her fist into Justine's face. The car swerved to the side and Justin barely got control as it took out a trash can and they started going down another street. Buffy elbowed Holtz, hard. Angel came around the corner and was getting closer to Wes' car. He saw the fight going on and hoped everything was well.

"Come on Buffy." Angel said. "For Connor." Justine put the car on cruise control and tried to grab Buffy and throw her off, but Buffy fought her off and punched her again. She delivered one more good blow that knocked Justine complete out of the car. She rolled on the ground as Buffy and Holtz sped off with Angel in pursuit. Angel didn't even stop to check on Justine. He looked towards where Buffy and Holtz were. Buffy elbowed Holtz again, knocking him out. Connor was crying in Holtz' arms. Buffy bent down and gathered up Connor in her arms.

"Shh. Shh. It's ok. Mommies here." Buffy cooed to the baby. Buffy looked up and saw that the car was on cruise control and heading towards the edge of a causeway. Buffy wasn't going to be able to stop it. "Oh…" she looked to Connor in her arms and then back up at the causeway. "itshay." The car went over the side and crashed front first in the causeway. It toppled over on to its back. Seconds later, the car blew up, sending a puff of smoke out into the night sky.

…

Liam and Sahjhan were still fighting. Sahjhan seemed to have the upper hand. Liam didn't bring any weapons with him to fight with. He didn't really plan on it. He used every ounce of strength he had to fight Sahjhan and defeat him, but Sahjhan was clearly stronger. Liam was supporting a slip lip, bruised temple, cut forehead, another bruise on his cheek, and seemed to be holding his weight on one side of his body. Sahjhan looked unharmed. Well, unharmed from when he first started out. Liam tried delivering a blow, Sahjhan caught his arm and lifted Liam up. He brought Liam down onto his knee. Liam screamed out in pain. Sahjhan gathered Liam's limp body and started slamming him on the ground like a rag toy. He held Liam by the shoulders and looked at him. Liam looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

"Gonna quite yet?" Sahjhan asked. Liam spat blood into Sahjhan's face.

"Never." He said.

"Your choice." Sahjhan took Liam's arm and swung him onto the ground. Liam screamed out again. That move dislocated his shoulder. Liam rolled over and lifted himself up, painfully. He held his shoulder. "Wow. Are you just plain stupid or something? We fight and it's clear that I'll win, but yet you fight. Why?"

"Who else will?"

"You brother apparently. But you don't want him to."

"He can't."

"But you said he would in the future. But seeing as I have the upper hand now, you might just have sealed his fate to die so much sooner."

"Then why talk? End it?" Liam rushed at Sahjhan and slammed into him. It did nothing to Sahjhan, but at least Liam's shoulder was back into place.

"I intend to." Sahjhan picked up Liam by the hair and threw him again. Liam got to his feet. His shoulder was achy but it was back in place and Liam was ready. Sahjhan walked towards him. If Liam was to defeat Sahjhan, he had to do better than punches and kicks. Liam raised his arms and sent bolts of lightning from his hands and shocked Sahjhan. Sahjhan screamed and dropped to his knees. Liam knew it wasn't going to kill him, but it would weaken him to a point. He just hoped that he didn't give way before that point struck. Through the bolts of lightning, Sahjhan managed to get to his feet. He felt the pain of the magic, but was shaking it off. Liam had to do more, even if it would deplete his strength. With all his magic and might, Liam shot more lighting at him. This time the lighting was coming out of his arms. Lightning covered his arms as he shocked Sahjhan, who was now on the ground screaming in pain yet again. Liam gritted his teeth as he gave it everything he had. Unfortunately, everything he had wasn't enough. Not long after shoot Sahjhan with lightning did Liam stop and slump to the ground on his knees, panting as he grew weak. Sahjhan began to laugh. "Wow. That actually hurt." He said rising to his feet. His body was smoking from the lighting blasts sent to him. "Didn't think you would be able to do it." Sahjhan walked towards him. "But now you're weak. You can barely stand." Liam got to his feet. "Ok, you can stand. But not for long. You don't have anything left in you." Liam rushed at Sahjhan again with a battle cry and tried punching him. He didn't land a single blow. He was slower than when he started out. Way slower. He wasn't at full strength. He swung again and Sahjhan caught it. He lifted up Liam's arm and punched him hard in the gut. Liam gasped. They stayed in that position as Liam kept gasping in pain. He looked down and saw half of Sahjhan's fist imbedded in his stomach, blood oozing out of it. Sahjhan took his now bloody fist out and let go of Liam. Liam immediately held his wound, trying to stop the bleeding. But he knew better. There was too much damage to fix. He was now dying. He dropped to his knees and held his wound. Feeling cold wash over him. "So, this is the great Liam." Sahjhan taunted. "The son of the vampire with a soul and the slayer. Impressive. But not that impressive." Liam whimpered as he held his stomach, the blood seeping through his fingers. "The prophecy did say that the son of the vampire with a soul would kill me. But apparently that wasn't you." This was it. Liam felt it. He gave it his all, and it seemed like it was all over. He wasn't going to be able to save Connor. He did everything he could and yet, Connor ended up in Holtz' hands, his wife was off somewhere he didn't know about and didn't know if she was still alive. And his parents were off trying to get Connor back. Maybe they would retrieve him and run away. Maybe hide from Sahjhan. He didn't know. All he knew was that he was going to die and be with his sister again. Liam fell on the ground on his side, still holding his excessively bleeding wound. He laid there on the ground as Sahjhan continued to taunt him. "After everything you did, after all of this, you still failed." Liam knew he was right. He wasn't going to be able to save the future from its horrible fate. He failed in his mission. He didn't even tell anyone about how to save the future. He failed his personal mission and his primary mission.

**Ok. I know that this was short and everything, but this really seemed like a cliff hanger moment. Don't worry, next chapter will be longer and better. I promise. This ends part 3. Part 4 is up next and it ends with a bang.**


	22. Action

Chapter 22: Action (Part 4)

**Here it is. Part 4 of my 4 part Connor story arc. I know that I might have scarred some people with what happened last chapter. I can assure you, things will be just as antsy. Also, side note: if one looks at the titles for the four part chapters, they are all part of a business marketing tool I came across. (AIDA) Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. They lined up perfectly to how I wanted to chapters to be like. Just thought you might like to know. Ok, back to the chapter. Enjoy.**

Liam laid there bleeding on the ground, whimpering and holding his gut wound. Sahjhan had punched Liam so hard in the stomach that it left a gaping wound that was too severe to heal and too big to treat. Sahjhan stood over Liam watching him die.

"Come on. Die already." Sahjhan said. "I got places to be. Babies to kill. And I can't do that unless I know your dead. So just die. That wound is too severe for you to recover from anyway." Liam knew that it was true. He wouldn't be able to recover from this wound. He just hoped that everyone else was doing better than he was.

…

Across town, Delia was riding her motorcycle being chased by Wolfram and Hart. All she needed to do was to distract Wolfram and Hart as Liam took care of Sahjhan and Buffy and Angel got Connor back. Delia heard gunshots as wolfram and Hart opened fire on her.

"Shit!" Delia said. More shots were fired and they got her back tire. Delia did her best to control the bike but it was useless. "Oh Fuck, Fuck, Fuck." She said as she failed to control the bike and it toppled over. She rolled on the ground and bike skidded to a stop. Delia got up from her motorcycle crash. She limped for a few feet before walking it off and running into an alley. She ran only several feet before stopping. She ran into a dead end. She looked up and saw no way for her to scale the wall without being completely exposed. Delia turned around to face the team and Lilah. The commandos all had tazer rifles, similar the ones Riley and the Initiative had. Lilah was behind the group with her arms crossed looking smug.

"Looks like you backed yourself into a corner." Lilah said.

"I've been in tighter situations." Delia shot back. She looked all around the alley for an escape route. She didn't find one.

"Not tight enough it seems. Take her." Lilah ordered. The ops team moved in. Delia looked at everyone in the alley and studied them carefully. She looked back at Lilah with a determined, piercing look.

"It's a brilliant plan really, but you forgot one thing." Lilah raise an eyebrow.

"Oh really? What's that?"

"I…always…win." Delia went for her sword across her back. The commandos all shot their tazer rifles and electricity lit up the alley. Delia blocked one tazer blast with her sword and dodge the rest. The deflected tazer shot back at its source and tazed the commando, incapacitating him. Delia whirled around and grabbed another commando, using him as a human shield as another bolt of electricity was shot at her. She dropped the commando to the ground where he started to fidget and gag from the shock. Delia quickly went for the nearest commando next. She used her sword to point his gun to the ground before whirling around 180 and slicing his throat. She rolled on the ground and ended up behind another commando, quickly stabbing him in the back. She ran towards the wall and ran up it, doing a flip and landing behind another commando. He turned around just in time for Delia to stomp on his knee, making him kneel in pain and then sliced his throat from behind. She lunged onto another commando, sending him to the ground, and burying her blade into his throat, killing him. She rolled and quickly got up. There were six more commandos left. Delia got into the middle of the group and rolled over the back of one commando and sliced the chest of the commando behind him. She rolled onto back of the same commando she just rolled over and drew her sword up, stabbing the next commando through the chin and out of his head. Delia retrieved her sword and yet again rolled over the back of the same commando, back fisted another, and kicking him straight into the wall. He slumped to the ground. The commando she was flipping over the back came at her and she took her sword in an icepick grip and stabbed the commando, without even turning. The commando fell and there was only one left. He looked frightened. Delia looked at him and started to walk towards the commando. The commando started walking backwards slowly and fired a tazer shot. Delia blocked it with her sword like it was nothing. The commando shot again and Delia blocked that one too. The commando turned in fear and ran out of the alley, but Delia grabbed him by the collar.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Can't we be more civili –aaaarrrrggggghhhhh!" Delia sliced his throat from behind. The commando spun and dropped to the ground dead.

"No. We can't." She said. Delia grabbed his feet and dragged him more into the alley so that he wouldn't be seen by bystanders. She walked out of the alley and noticed a Humvee gone, as well as Lilah. She really wanted to get at Lilah for trying to capture her. "Shit." She said to nobody. Then she felt a pain in her chest and clutched it. It wasn't a normal pain like being stabbed. No. this was a pain as if she was losing something. She knew immediately what that feeling was. "Liam." She started to run in the direction of where she last left Liam to fight Sahjhan. She needed to help him. She needed to get to him before it was too late.

…

Across town, Angel and Buffy were in a Humvee chasing after Holtz and Justine who had Connor. Buffy opened up the passenger door and hopped onto the roof. Angel inched closer to the car in front. Buffy hopped off the roof onto the hood of the Humvee and made a daring leap to Wes' car. She grabbed onto the back bumper. Justine swerved to knock Buffy off. Buffy turned her body and gestured to Angel to back off so she could seek up on them. Angel understood. He made an abrupt halt and skidded to a stop. Justine saw that Angel was following and slowed the car down and stopped swerving. Buffy waited and leaped up to the backseat. She punched Justine almost instantly. She then elbowed Holtz. Connor began to cry. Buffy punched Justine again and knocked her out of the car. Angel roared passed Justine without a second glance. Buffy elbowed Holt yet again and knocked him out. She took the crying Connor from his arms.

"Shh. Shh. It's ok. Mommies here." Buffy cooed to the baby. Buffy looked up and saw that the car was on cruise control and heading towards the edge of a causeway. Buffy wasn't going to be able to stop it. "Oh…" she looked to Connor in her arms and then back up at the causeway. "itshay." Right before the car went over the edge, Buffy jumped out and landed hard on her back on the asphalt. She groaned at the pain. She heard the sound of the car crashing into the causeway and the explosion that followed. Buffy saw the cloud of smoke rise and sighed. She straightened herself and sat up with a crying Connor. "Shh. Shh. It's ok baby. It's alright. It's all over." Angel in the Humvee came up to her and stopped. Angel got out.

"Buffy." He cried and ran to her side. "Are you ok? Is Connor ok?" he asked frantically.

"We're fine Angel." Buffy reassured him and looked to Connor you was now sound asleep in her arms. "Were both just fine." Angel sighed and kissed Buffy. He kissed Connor and held them both in his arms.

"I'm glad you both are ok."

"I am too. I don't know what would have happened if Liam hadn't sh…." It hit Buffy right there. "Oh god. Liam! We left him to fight that demon."

"Let's go." Angel said. Angel helped Buffy to her feet and they ran to the Humvee and jumped in. Buffy held onto Connor as Angel backed up, turned around, and headed in the direction of where Liam was last seen. They drove a few blocks before they saw a familiar figure coming the other way. It was Delia. Angel stopped and stuck his head out the window. "Delia." He called to her. Delia stopped and saw Angel in the Humvee. Delia ran towards them and got into the back.

"We have to get to Liam. He's in danger." She said.

"We're on our way." Angel said and continued to drive.

"No. You don't understand. Liam's in danger of himself." Buffy looked back at her Daughter-in-law.

"What are you talking about?" Delia looked worriedly at Buffy as she retold them the conversation she and Liam had right before all of this happened.

…

_Wesley had just left Liam and Delia after conversing and telling him that they needed to go to Wolfram and Hart to turn Sahjhan corporeal. They started walking towards Delia's motorcycle._

"_Just out of curiosity." Delia began. "How exactly are you going to defeat Sahjhan?" Liam stopped short of the bike and stood there. Delia looked back at him and read his face. He had a worried look on. "Liam?"_

"_Sahjhan's very powerful." Liam replied. "I'll need some power of my own if I have any hope of defeating him."_

"_Ok. So what? Are you going to throw a few energy balls at him? Or maybe zap him with lightning?" Liam shook his head._

"_Something a bit more." _

"_Like what?" Liam stepped closer and held Delia by the shoulders. _

"_Del. It's the only way." Delia knew instantly what he was talking about. "I will try everything I can throw at him. But if all that doesn't work, the only way to destroy him is for me to turn into my demon."_

"_Yeah, but afterwards you'll turn back into Liam."_

"_I may not be able to. To stop him I'll have to embrace my demonic self completely. There may be no coming back from that. And if that happens, Delia I need you to promise me…"_

"_No." Delia took a step back._

"_Delia I need you,"_

"_No. We don't know if the tea will turn you back or kill you."_

"_Either way it's better. The demon will be gone. Delia I need you to promise me that this time you won't hesitate. I need you to promise me that if I am my demon, you have to be the slayer and stop me. Don't hesitate. That's how people get killed. Just by being a half a second slower. Delia promise me that you will do what you have to to ensure the safety of others." Delia stared at her husband. She couldn't believe what he was asking her to do. He was asking for her be the slayer and not have any love for him, but to kill him._

"_I promise will use the tea." Liam nodded to her. "But only after I have tried everything else to bring you back. And I won't promise that I won't hesitate a second time." Liam looked at his wife. _

"_Fair enough." He said and walked closer to her. He leaned forward and gave her a sweet and passionate kiss. She returned it. They stayed there in each other's arms, kissing each other as if it would be there last time. Liam pulled away from her and they held their foreheads against each other. "We better go see Linwood." Delia looked up at him and nodded._

…

Delia finished telling Buffy and Angel Liam's plan for defeating Sahjhan. Buffy starred in shock at Delia. Angel had his eyes on the road but he too had a worried look on.

"Liam actually intends to do all that?" Buffy asked hoping it was all some sick joke. Delia nodded. Buffy looked to her husband. "Drive faster." She demanded. Angel complied and put his foot all the way on the accelerator. He roared down the road.

…

Liam was lying on the ground still, gasping for air, holding the gaping wound in his stomach. Sahjhan was pacing around.

"You know, normal people with serious wounds that you have would have died by now." Sahjhan said and stopped his pacing and looked at Liam. "Maybe I should just put you out of you misery." Sahjhan walked over to Liam.

"Wait." Liam managed to say. Sahjhan stopped right in front of Liam and started to chuckle.

"Wait? Wait for what? You're dying. You can't stand. You can't fight. You have nothing left. Just keel over and die already." Liam rolled over and with one hand, got himself to his knees and stood up, still gasping his wound that was still bleeding excessively.

"Never." Liam said breathing hard, trying his best to stay conscious long enough.

"Oh. This is just rich. You actual think you have even the slightest chance with that gut wound. How do you plan on fighting back when you have no more strength and fight left in you?"

"You'll…..you….find I'm….I'm full of surprises." Liam managed to say through the pain and fatigue. Sahjhan just starred at Liam. Liam began to breathe heavier and faster. He let go of his wound and held his hands into tight fists. Liam took in a deep long breathe, then he began to scream in pain. He grabbed his shirt and ripped it off as he morphed and his demon emerged. Blue grayish skin, horns protruding from his bumpy face, ears pointed, clawed hands and eyes as red as blood. The wound that Liam had received, healed only slightly in his demon form. Demon Liam snarled at Sahjhan who looked surprised.

"Huh….that's new." Demon Liam pushed Sahjhan hard, sending him back several yards. Sahjhan skidded on the ground he stopped and straightened himself up. He looked in the direction of where Liam stood, but he wasn't there. Sahjhan turned around and Demon Liam was there, just as he hit Sahjhan across the face. Demon Liam grabbed Sahjhan and sank his teeth into his neck, drinking his blood. Sahjhan screamed in pain. Liam's wound healed up about half way now, but it was still severe. Demon Liam withdrew his fangs and threw Sahjhan across the street. Sahjhan got up but seemed weak. Demon Liam ran at him. Sahjhan stood his ground as Liam began to swipe at him. Sahjhan dodged most of the blows but because Liam drank from him, he was weaker. Sahjhan threw blow after blow, but Liam dodged every one. He seemed more nimble now because he drank from Sahjhan. Liam swiped Sahjhan across the face twice and reengaged on the offensive. He smacked Sahjhan again and Sahjhan punched Liam, sending him back. Liam got to his feet again, just as the Humvee carrying Angel, Buffy, Connor, and Delia pulled up. All of them got out and saw the skirmish happening. Sahjhan came after Liam and tried to hit him three times, but Liam was fast and dodged to the blows. He jumped up into the air and landed right behind Sahjhan. Sahjhan barely had time to notice where Liam went to. Sahjhan tried to hit Liam again but Liam back handed him and grabbed his face. He placed both of his hands in Sahjhan's mouth, left on the bottom and right on the top, and began to pull. Sahjhan screamed in pain and attempted to grab hold of Liam to get him off, but it was useless. Liam pulled harder and harder until finally the top half of Sahjhan's head was ripped off from his body. The body fell to the ground and Liam dropped the head. The group that had just arrived witnessed Liam kill Sahjhan, fulfilling the original prophecy. Demon Liam breathed heavily. And held a hand over his wounded side. Delia gasped as she noticed to wound. Demon Liam looked at it and then noticed the group. He started walking towards them. Delia walked towards him.

"Delia." Angel tried to grab Delia but she shrugged him off.

"No." She said to him. "Let me try." She walked a little bit more. "Liam?" Demon Liam gave no response. "Liam, it's over. You can turn back now. Liam, you can do it. For me, for us." Demon Liam didn't give any response. Instead he sniffed the air and snarled at Delia. "Liam, please." Delia begged. Demon Liam growled and lunged forward, knocking Delia completely off her feet and back several yards, past Angel and Buffy. Liam was on top of Delia. He bent down and bit her neck, drinking her blood. Delia screamed in pain. Angel ran over and grabbed Liam for behind. He wrenched and threw Liam off of Delia. Liam landed on the ground and straightened up. His wound healed almost instantly. Delia held her neck and Angel helped her to her feet. Buffy ran over with Connor to them.

"What now?" She asked.

"Protect them." Angel said. "It's time Liam deserved a time out." Angel walked towards Liam.

"Angel wait,"

"Buffy, just get them out of here." Demon Liam went for Angel and they began to fight. Angel dodged several swipes from Liam delivered a few punches and kicks to him. Liam seemed unfazed. He hit Angel across the face, sending him to the ground. Delia and Buffy watched the two fight it out. Delia was a little light headed from the blood loss, but she could still stand.

"I need to get close to him." Delia said.

"What? No." Buffy said. "You're too weak. He drank from you."

"It's not like it hasn't happened to me before."

"But what do you plan on doing? Let him drink you dry?"

"No." Delia pulled out the vial of tea from a pouch around her neck. "If Liam drinks this, he'll go back to normal." She looked to her demon husband who was thrashing Angel around. "I hope."

"Then let me have it. I can get close to him and I'm not the one with a neck injury."

"No. I'll do it." Delia started walk around the perimeter of where Angel and Liam were fighting, looking for an opening. Buffy wasn't going to let Delia try to kill herself to save her son. She turned to the Humvee and opened the door. She placed Connor down quietly inside and tried to cover him up so that no one could see him.

"You be good now. Mommy has to go ground your brother. You be quite now, ok?" She closed the door and went into battle. Liam grabbed Angel and threw him to the ground hard, making a crater. Liam walked over to him, but Delia jumped on his back and they grappled. Delia attempted to open his mouth so as to make him drink the tea, but it was really hard. Liam had taught her how to take control of wild horses, but this was much harder. She had the vial in hand but Liam managed to grab hold of her and wrenched her off. She hit the ground and vial fell from her hand. Luckily it didn't break. Delia scrambled to get the vial. Liam walked towards her but Buffy dealt a powerful kick that sent him flying a few feet. He got back and growled at her. They ran at each other. Liam swiped and Buffy dodged. She started delivering punch after punch, landing each one. She round housed kicked him to the ground. She attempted to kick him again but Liam rolled under her leg, straightened up, and swiped at her back, leaving a nasty claw gash. Buffy screamed in pain.

"Buffy!" Angel yelled and ran towards Liam, ramming into him and sending him to the ground. Angel attempted to hold him down but Liam was too powerful and knocked Angel off of him. Delia grabbed the vial and looked to fight that ensued. Liam was now fighting both Buffy and Angel. The parents didn't really want to hurt him, but it didn't seem that way for Liam. Liam swiped at Buffy but she dodged it. She kicked him in the stomach, making him hunch over, then she kicked him in the face. He fell to the ground and Angel and Buffy piled on top of him, holding him down.

"Delia, give him the potion." Buffy said as she tried her best to hold Liam down. It was a losing battle. Liam was clearly stronger than Angel and Buffy combined. Soon he would break free from their hold. Delia uncorked the vial and ran to Liam's head. She opened his mouth and poured every drop of tea down his throat. To ensure he drank it, she yanked his head upward and he swallowed the tea. He began to growl and thrash around. He broke free of Angel and Buffy's hold and threw them off. He straightened himself up and rounded on Delia. Delia took a few steps back and Liam walked over to her as if to kill her. Buffy and Angel got to their feet and went over to help Delia. Suddenly, Liam stopped and began to snarl. Buffy and Angel stopped to and watched. Liam hunched over and held his stomach. He stumbled and growled. He began to smoke up. Delia grew worried. Was it the effects of the tea? Was it killing him? Liam withdrew his hands from his stomach a flame appeared where they use to be. The flame grew. It was covering Liam's body. His skin turned from blue grayish to charcoal black. He roared in pain. Delia stood helpless as the demon in front of her began to die. Buffy and Angel stood in shock seeing the sight before them. They both hoped that all of this was some bad side effect of the tea. Liam continued to scream as the flames consumed his entire body. Tears weld up in Delia's eyes. The flames disappeared in a puff of smoke and Liam stood there where his demon form used to be. He was normal again. White smooth skin, hands, green eyes, black hair, he may have been shirtless but at least he wasn't a demon anymore. He dropped to his knees. Delia ran over and caught him as he dropped to the ground. Buffy and Angel smiled, knowing that their son was back and normal again. Delia smiled and hugged her husband's human form. But for some odd reason, he wasn't hugging back.

"Liam, it's ok. You're back now." Delia said happily. Liam didn't say anything. He was just slumped there in her arms. "Liam?" Nothing. Delia withdrew her hug but continued to hold Liam. She looked at him. His eyes where closed and his head was slumped to the side. "Liam." He didn't respond. Delia started to get worried. "Liam. Liam wake up." She patted his face. Liam didn't move. Now Delia was going into denial. Liam would be okay! He had to be okay, he just didn't have another option. He wouldn't dare leave her. He was just tired, just tired and resting. Delia though about the times where she messed with Liam on missions just to scare him. This must be him paying her back. Delia remembered the times she did that to him. This was just him trying to get back at him. He was just trying to scare her. He told her he would get back at me for the last time.

…

_Liam and Delia were sparring in the training room of the Hyperion Slayer Organization HQ. Delia fought with a plain sword and Liam fought with his tomahawk and knife. Delia swiped and Liam blocked with his knife. He tried to get at her with his tomahawk but she was quick and blocked the blow. They continued to fight each other. Liam was driving her back to the wall, backing her into a corner. They were getting closer the wall. Liam used his tomahawk to move Delia's sword out of the way, then did a deadly kick and sent her into the wall. She slumped to the floor._

"_I win." Liam said victoriously. Delia didn't register him. She just laid there. "Come on Delia, I didn't hit you that hard." She didn't move. Liam grew worried. "Delia?" nothing. "Delia!" he panicked and knelt next to her. He turned her over to check her vitals. "Delia talk to me!"_

"_BOO!" Delia screamed at him. Liam screamed and reeled back. Delia laughed at him. "Oh man. You should have seen your face." _

"_Don't do that ever again." _

"_Sorry." Delia continued to laugh. "I couldn't resist."_

"_One day, I will get you back for it."_

"_I await the day."_

…

Delia prayed to God and the Powers that Liam was playing a trick. He would open his eyes any second now and grin his mischievous grin which made her fall in love with him. Any second now.

"Please Liam! Come on baby open your eyes, please. Please, please look at me, you scared me okay." Delia begged. She whipped at her tears furiously. "This is me scared, now open your eyes please love please." He still doesn't wake up. Fear now gripped her inner soul.

"Liam." Buffy whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"He's alive." Angel said. Both women looked at him hopefully. "I can hear his heartbeat. It's weak but steady. It's getting better, but at a slow rate.

"That's good right? I-I-It means that he's alive and he'll get better."

"I don't know." Delia looked even more worried. "The fact that he's still breathing and his heartbeat steady is a good sign. But I'm not sure if it will improve." Delia was now beyond scarred. She started to shake Liam awake.

"Liam please!" She begged. "Please wake up." He did nothing. Tears fell from Delia's eyes. She hugged him and pull him close to her and start to cry. "Please Liam. Please." Buffy looked at the sight before her. She felt fear for her son and sorrow for her daughter in law. She saw the same kind of love, felt the same kinda love she was expressing. She had it too with Angel. She had saddness for Delia and what she was now going through. Delia sat there holding Liam close as she sat there sobbing and crying out Liam's name. This was an either or situation and she couldn't deal with it. She could deal with other situations, but not when it came to Liam. She hoped for the future that they both had in mind for each other. She remembered the times when they talked about it.

…

_Liam walked into the kitchen of the Slayer HQ in Scotland and saw Delia cooking. Or at least attempting to cook. _

"_What are you doing?" he asked her. _

"_I need to learn how to cook the day to day stuff." She replied. _

"_Ok." He trailed. "Why are you learning how to cook day to day stuff?"_

_"Well someday, hopefully soon, there will be no more apocalypses for us and we get to have the house with white picket fence, 2.5 kids and a dog. I will have no need to show off my fencing skills so then I will need to wire you in with a new skill. "_

_"You think you will need culinary skills to wire me in?"_

_"Well if the need of wiring arises I will have one way handy."_

"_Delia, you don't have to cook. I know how. I can do it."_

"_Yes. But you see most men don't see anything else when they have good food, kind of like a dog"_

_"Miss Winters are you calling me a dog?"_

_"Well more like a big bad wolf." Liam grinned mischievously and picked Delia up, making her drop some food ingredients._

_"Liam!" she laughed._

_"My sweet little red riding hood, lemme show you how much of a bad wolf I really am." He kissed her passionately._

…

Delia remembered all of the peaceful memories she had with Liam. The ones where she and he talked about the future and what they wanted for each other. At this point, she had quit sobbing and looked at Liam, push back his hair lovingly.

"We are still to have our house and kids, and the dog. A golden retriever." She told him. "You can't back out of it now just because you don't like big dogs. You hear me, you promised me all those things and you better keep it. Or else I swear to God. If you die I will capture your ghost and torture you till you enter your body again. You think you have a viscous streak well you haven't seen nothing lover." It was a dry threat. But she wanted to do anything to make Liam wake up. She sobbed silently. "Please don't leave me, please I need you." She sobbed. "I can't live without you. Everyone thinks Delia is very strong, I'm not. Not without you, please, Liam, please God please..." She buried her face into Liam's chest and sobbed again. Angel held Buffy as she too cried for her son. This was the second time he had risked his life for his family and was now paying the price.

…

Wes was in his office gathering up his mini figures from the shelves from behind his desk. He turned and put the mini figures on the box on the desk. He turned to gather more objects from behind his desk. Angel came into the office and noticed Wes packing.

"Wes." Angel said. Wesley turned to him.

"Oh, Angel." Wes said. "I'm, just uh…"

"Wes, you're not fired. On thin ice with everyone, but not fired."

"Well, that's diffidently not entirely what I expected. How is it that I'm not fired?"

"Because you saved my son."

"I kidnapped him. I deceived you all and nearly got him taken by a mad man. And Liam suffered for it."

"It was Liam's plan to begin with. He knew exactly what would happen and he was willing to deal with the consequences."

"As am I. I fell that I am no longer fit to act as leader. I did everything that you did with Darla. I told myself that I wouldn't do the same. But I ended up doing the exact same."

"Wes, I told you all about Darla and Drusilla but didn't listen."

"And it's just as bad not telling you at all. Angel, the moment Liam told me that the prophecy was false I wanted to tell everyone about it."

"But Liam talked you out of it."

"He's a convincing man."

"That he is."

"In any case, I feel compelled to step down and be where is was when we all started this agency."

"You know, I think that's good. Saves me from telling you we took a vote outside and basically voted you out."

"Unanimous I'm sure. I'll add me vote to that ballet and ask it official." Wes grabbed his remaining stuff and picked up the box. "Where does this leave us?" Angel looked at Wes contemplating everything that happened in the past two days.

"You're still apart of this team, but it'll take some time to regain the trust from everyone."

"What about you, me, and Buffy?"

"Well Wes, I don't trust you the same amount as when I appointed you in charge, but I still trust you enough to have min and my families back." Wes smiled weakly. "And Buffy's the same."

"Well I can't say I expected more. But I feel it's appropriate." Wes gathered his things and headed for the door.

"Wes." Angel called to him before he exited. Wesley turned around to face Angel. "Thank you." He held out his hand. Wes looked at it before complying and they shook. They both walked out of the office that would now be Angel's, and entered the lobby where everyone else was. Buffy was holding Connor in her arms.

"Wes, good. You're out so we can talk." Gunn said.

"Wesley, it

"It's not that we don't love you. We do." Fred said.

"And it's not that we don't trust you or anything…"

"But we don't." Lorne finished.

"You kidnapped Connor." Gunn said.

You lied to us and deceived us." Fred said

"And knocked me over the head there." Lorne said.

"We took a vote and we came to an agreement."

"Guys, it's ok." Angel said. "Wes and I talked and he is willingly stepping down."

"I'm actually casting my vote for it." Wes added. "I don't see myself fit to be leader."

"Oh, good." Gunn said. "Glad we got that issue settled."

"Gunn." Buffy said. "Wes helped save my son. In my book, he's still a good person." Wes smiled at Buffy who smiled back at him.

"How's Liam doing?" Wes asked her. Buffy's smile dropped and she turned towards the stairs.

"Delia hasn't left their room since we brought him home. I checked in on her this morning. She says that he hasn't even moved."

"Did she provide you with any ingredients of the tea that Liam drank?"

"No." Buffy turned back to everyone. "She didn't see the gypsies make it. Go I hate those gypsies. Always having some loop hole or something."

"At least Liam isn't evil." Lorne spoke up.

"It won't matter if Liam stays in another coma." Angel said.

"But he got out of the last one. Can't he get out of this one?" Gunn asked.

"Last time there were circumstances." Buffy said. "I'm not sure what circumstances there are for this one."

"I guess the best course of action here, is pray." Wes said.

…

Liam was lying in his bed, not moving. The blankets were draped over him. His right arm over the blankets, his left spread out. The drapes were closed, even thought it was daytime outside. Over in the armchair that was to the side of the bed, sat Delia curled up. She hadn't moved from that spot since they arrived at the hotel. She didn't want to leave Liam. She was too afraid to move. Afraid that he might wake up and will need her. The door opened and Buffy came in with a tray of food. She walked over and set the food down on a table that was beside Delia.

"Delia, you need to eat." Buffy said to her. Delia said nothing. She continued to stare at Liam's unconscious form. "I'm pretty sure that once Liam wakes up, he'd want his wife to be healthy." She tried to get her to eat.

"Everything I eat tastes like sand." Delia finally said.

"Then eat sand. But you need to keep up right strength." Delia let a small smile show before frowning again.

"You know, this is how Liam was after Kathy died." Buffy starred at Delia in confusion.

"How did he feel?"

"The same as I am now. Numb, not angry or scared. Or even sad. Just numb. He was a wreck. He didn't leave his room, or even the corner of his room he was hunched in for more than a week. I'd bring him food. I'd talk to him. But he felt so much guilt for killing Kathy. Now I feel similar."

"Delia," Buffy kneeled before Delia. "Liam told you to do it. He knew that the tea would turn him back."

"But did he know that it would send him into another coma?" tars fell from Delia's eyes. "I tried lying in bed with him. Just to feel as close to him as I could. But I feel like I'm lying with a total stranger. I tried packing up my weapons and going over to Wolfram and Hart and killing everyone there. Just to get my anger out. But I can't leave him. What if he wakes up and he needs e and I'm not here? I need to be here for him." Delia started to cry. Buffy hugged her and shushed her, trying to calm her.

"It's ok Delia. Liam is strong. He'll make it thought this. But you have to be strong too. Ok?" Delia nodded to Buffy and calmed down a bit, but tears still fell from her eyes. Buffy wiped some away and kissed Delia's head. She turned to Liam lying in bed and sat next to him. She stroked some of his hair and kissed his forehead. "Be strong my son." She whispered to him. "Please come back to all of us…we still need you. We still love you." Buffy stood back up and left the room, leaving Delia in the dark.

…

The next day, everyone sat around the lobby not really doing anything or talking to one another. Wesley was over at the reception area with a book laid out. But he wasn't really reading it. Gunn and Fred were on a couch just sitting there. Buffy and Angel were sitting on the settee taking turns holding Connor. Lorne sat at the reception desk with a sea breeze in hand. The A.I. got to know Liam in his time here in LA and now they don't know what to do with him being in a coma. They just sat around waiting for any news. The doors opened and the Scooby gang walked in. Faith and Spike walked in for the basement because Spike had to take the sewers. Buffy had called them all and told them everything that happened. She looked up at them as they entered. Dawn ran past everyone and went to Buffy. Buffy handed Angel Connor and hugged her sister. Willow came up and hugged her after Dawn. Dawn went for Angel. Willow then hugged Angel as well. Then it was Tara, Xander, Faith, and Spike. They all felt the same feelings everyone else had. It was no different from the time Liam gave his life for them.

"How are you two doing?" Willow asked her best friend and husband.

"Anxious." Buffy answered. "Worried. Scarred. Confused. Take your pick."

"Do you now if Liam's alright?" Dawn asked hopefully.

"There hasn't been any change." Angel answered.

"Maybe Willow and I could check on him." Tara suggested. "Maybe do a spell to see if he's better or worse."

"Don't mean to shoot down that plan," Spike began. "But isn't magicks and potions what got Liam into this mess in the first place? Anything more and he might end up in a hospital, droolin' and chewin' on his own tongue."

"Well thanks for that Spike, but we're here trying to find a way to help Liam." Xander shot at him. "If you can't help with that, then there's the door." He pointed to the door.

"Hey look, I want to help Liam as much as you lot. But I'm a bit worried about what might com of him if we do something without guarantee."

"Didn't know you cared that much."

"Oh I care buddy."

"Spike enough." Faith said getting in-between the two. "Liam wouldn't want this." She told Spike. Spike sighed and nodded.

"Aw Faith did you teach him to go fetch too", asked Xander. Faith whirled around and punched Xander. He landed with a thud on the floor. Connor started to fuss so Angel took him to the office. Everyone came around Xander to check on him.

"Xander, are you alright?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, think my teeth will grow back." Xander said.

"Good." Buffy slapped Xander upside of the head. He looked at her confused. "Faith just said Liam wouldn't want people fighting. That means you too." She scolded him.

"You're right Buffy. I'm sorry. It's just…..Liam's done a lot for us. I just want to help him."

"We all do." Wes said.

"Even you? The guy that kidnapped his brother and made him go all grrr and then into a coma?"

"Xander." Buffy said. "Enough. New rule for everyone. There is no fighting amongst ourselves so long as Liam is unconscious. Any fighting going on and I will break whoever it is. Got it?" Everyone nodded. She was right. They couldn't fight now because Liam just saved a baby and was paying a price. They all had to keep a level head.

…

Delia continued to sit in the armchair next to Liam's bed. The tray of food Buffy left for her was only half eaten. She didn't really want to eat. She just wanted Liam back. She had been sitting in the same position watching Liam. Occasionally she would focus on his chest going up and down. At last that was a sign of him being alive. That's what she focused on so that she wouldn't lose any hope. His breathing was the only hope she had of him waking up. To her, it was all she had from going mad. Seconds went by and it felt like minutes. Minutes felt like hours. Hours felt like days. It felt so long to her. It felt so long since she last talked to Liam. She didn't want him to leave without first talking to her and telling him how much she loved him. She didn't want him to leave at all. He had promised her that he wouldn't. Delia remembered when Liam told her he would never leave her at all.

…

**September 22, 2030**

**Slayer HQ, Scotland.**

_Liam was sitting on his couch in his room at the Slayer HQ. He was busy reading a book. He liked reading books, he just had a hard time finding time for it. The door opened up and Delia stepped through it._

"_Hey." She greeted him. "How are you feeling?"_

"_OK." Liam said looking up at her. "Some days are harder than others, but I can get through them."_

"_That's good. Watcha readin?"_

"_Romeo and Juliet." Liam answered going back to his book._

"_Serious?" Delia walked over and sat down next to Liam. "You don't peg me the type of guy who would read that shit." Liam looked up from his book. _

"_It was Kathy's." Liam said. Delia now felt really stupid. Kathy had just died and she just insulted a book of hers. "She liked it. She was reading it right before…." He trialed not wanting to eve nutter the words. "She went out. She liked it because it reminded her of mom and dads love life. Forbidden love. They found away. Both died tragically."_

"_Yes. But I don't see it. First it's Shakespeare which is worse than Spanish lessons. Plus the story sucks. It's stupid, they are stupid. First they fall in love with each other in days and at the end they both just die. That's not love, that's selfishness. Yes the girl died and Romeo was in pain but that doesn't mean he kills himself. And then Juliet wakes up from her temporary death and kills herself as well. Seriously? If someone loves you they would not want you to take your life just because they are dead. If they truly love you, they would want you to live and carry on and try to be happy and live your dreams. And if you truly love your dearly departed then that's exactly what you should do. You should live life if not for yourself then for them, because that would have been their last wish and you should do your best to fulfill that wish."_

_"I don't think I could do that if you were gone"_

"_Sure you can. You are Liam. You can do anything"_

"_And what about you?"_

"_Me, no point in answering that"_

_"Why not?"_

_"Because my dear, there is no way you are leaving me alone, I won't let you."_

"_Good, cause I don't plan to. Ever."_

…

Liam had promised that he would never leave her. And she promised she'd never leave him, thinking back to the words she told him about staying alive for your departed and fighting on, she was sort glad that she didn't promise to carry on without him. She wasn't so sure she could. Liam was the stronger one of the two. He seemed to be able to overcome anything that he faced. Death, family death, inner demons, plain demons, even a coma. He could survive this, he had too.

The door opened and Buffy entered. She saw the darkness of the room and turned on a single lamp. She saw that the scene hadn't changed at all since the last time she checked up on Delia and Liam. Liam was still lying in his bed, in the same position as he was before. Delia was asleep, curled up in the armchair. Buffy took a blanket and laid it across Delia. She brushed her a bit before looking over at Liam. Buffy felt so helpless. It was like when Angel was poisoned and she didn't know the cure or how to treat him. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what she could do. All she could do was so what Wesley had told them. Pray. She did just that. She wanted Liam to be awake and fine. So she prayed that he would be fine. She went over to him and stroked his cheek with her knuckles. She sighed and wiped way a few tears before turning towards the door and walking out.

**Here it is. The end. Not really. There's still more to follow. This is just the end of the Connor story arc. Liam's in another coma. Sorry I'm not original in all this. I needed him to have some sorta after effect state after saving Connor. This was really the best I could do. Anyway, this isn't the end. I got more in store. He still have to deal with another apocalypse and several bad guys. Then Liam will go somewhere and we can get back to his mission. But I'm getting ahead of myself. More to come. Plain and simple. Comment and review. Stay tuned. **


	23. Reasons

Chapter 23: Reasons

**Hey guys. Sorry it took me awhile. I had one idea after another come to my head. I wrote them down, looked them over and rewrote them over and over until I finally got it. I hope you enjoy. (Note: **_**Italicized **_**means dream.)**

_It was night time in LA. Everyone in the city pretty much did their own normal thing every night. Nothing special. A woman wearing boots was walking through a dark alley. She was wearing mostly black. She stopped and looked around. Above here was a dark figure perched on a roof top. The dark figure dropped down from his perch and the woman rolled out from under him. She straightened up and looked at the figure. The woman was Delia. She saw the assailant. He wore complete black clothing and wore a black hood to cover his face. She unsheathed her sword from her back as the dark figure withdrew a long sword from his waist. They stood in fighting stances for a few seconds before charging at each other. Their swords clashed and they began to fight. Delia fought this dark clothed assailant on the offensive. He was quit adapt at sword fighting. Delia swung her sword and the assailant quickly dodged the oncoming blows. As he ducked one strike, Delia kicked him and he went flying. He flipped through the air and landed on his feet. Delia charged at him and threw he sword at him like a Frisbee. He scaled the wall of the alley and flew right over the sword. She jumped in the air and kicked him right in the chest. He landed in a heap on the ground. Delia recovered her sword and jumped in the air again. She came down on to the assailant with the intent of stabbing him. He moved out of the way and Delia's blade penetrated the ground. The assailant flipped over her and ran at her from behind. Delia withdrew her sword from the ground and the two began to fight again. They fought continuously without haste. They seemed evenly matched. Making the entire fight look like a chorographical routine. The assailant tried striking at her back and she parried the blow. He then punched her in the face, sending her back. The assailant tried striking her again and she dodged the blow. In the failed strike, he spun 180 to gain momentum. Delia took her chance and stabbed the assailant in the gut. He gasped at the pain and looked down, seeing the blade in his abdomen. His sword fell and clattered on the ground. Delia withdrew her sword from him and he held his wound. He dropped backwards and landed on the ground. She walked towards him and removed his hood to see who her attacker was. She gasped in horror as she saw the assailants face. It was Liam. He had an expression of pain. _

"_Liam?" she said. She looked at his wound and realized what she had done. She dropped her own sword. "Oh no. no." Liam gasped for air. Delia put her hands over his wound to stop the bleeding. "Oh god Liam. I'm so sorry."_

"_Then….why…why did you kill me?" he asked through the pain. _

"_I didn't…..I didn't know."_

"_Yes you did. You knew all along. And you still killed me." Liam's eyes rolled up and he drew his last breathe. _

"_LIAM!"_

…

"LIAM!" Delia screamed as she awoke from her nightmare. Buffy and Angel awoke with a jolt because of Delia's cry. Connor began to cry too from being woken up. All three had moved into Liam and Delia's room to watch over Liam until he woke up. Buffy and Angel occupied the pull out bed and brought Connor's crib in. The parents went for the baby. Delia went to Liam who was still lying in the same position as he was when he was brought to the hotel. Delia removed the covers to look at Liam's torso. She checked it for wounds like the one she gave him in her dream. There weren't any except for the big circular scar that was where Liam was punched by Sahjhan. After his demon side was destroyed, the wound that healed up because of it, left its mark.

"Is Liam ok?" Buffy asked as she came over to her.

"Yeah." Delia said and got off the bed. "Aaaagggghhhh." Delia through a punch and punched a hole in the wall. This caused Connor to start crying again.

"Was that really necessary?" Angel asked as he tried to calm Connor down.

"Yes. I'm stressed. I'm worried. I'm beyond scarred." She sat in her chair with a sigh. "I'm ten times less of all three when Liam's jumping off of roof tops." She placed her face in her hands and started to breathe to calm down. Buffy walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Just relax." Buffy said to ease her. "Liam will make it through this."

"When? How?" Delia asked looking up at Buffy. "We're not even sure what's going on. We don't know if he will make it through."

"His heart rate is better." Angel said walking closet to them with now a sleeping Connor. "He'll make it."

"Better heart rate means nothing to me if he doesn't give a sign that he'll wake up." Delia retorted angrily. She looked over to her unconscious husband. "It's been three days. I need some sign, any sign that he'll be ok. Anything." Liam just laid there in the bed not moving. She felt scarred for the person that she loved most in the world. She remembered the time that Liam finally told her he loved her.

…

_It had been a couple of months since Liam and Delia hooked up on New Year's. Since then, the couple had grown close to each other. People referred to them as the 'Next Generation Buffy and Angel', much to both of their annoyance. They brushed off the comments and just dated, trying to be like a normal everyday couple. However, in their lives, nothing was really normal. _

_Liam was talking to Spike in his office at the Hyperion Slayer Training Facility. Since Angel's death, Spike pretty much took the office and Faith helped train the slayers. _

"_So what's going on?" Liam asked looking at his uncle. _

"_We got a bunch of vampires trying to make a name for themselves." Spike informed him. He had really change in the years Liam new him. Spike got rid of his bleach blonde hair and was his usual brown color. While he still had his leather coat on him, he tried to wear professional clothing but flexible enough for him to fight in. However he didn't do much fighting nowadays. _

"_So why tell me?"_

"_Liam, you're one of the best we got here. You're not one of them but the slayers look up to you. I need you to help them in dusting these guys. Not to mention that some of the vampires are doing considerable number of gruesome acts to show how tough they are. Some of the slayers here might take them in a fight, but these vamps have been around for some time. They've only now gotten together to form a new gang. They want to make the Whirlwind look like a forgotten memory."_

"_I'm not sure how they could accomplish that. You and dad and the other two were the best in your fields."_

"_Yes we were." Spike said with a little bit of pride. "But these guys are trying to beat that. And I want you to help in trying to find these buggers."_

"_Don't you have people for that? I only lead slayers on patrols."_

"_Well, now you're helping us find some nasties and taking them out. Here's what we know." Spike handed him a file. "Get caught up on them. They're only in LA for now. But if they keep doing what they're doing, they'll surely leave and wreak havoc somewhere else. We want to stop it here." Liam looked at the file and read about some of the vampires. They were succeeding in becoming the next Whirlwind. They were everything that the old Whirlwind was and apparently were trying to do better._

"_I'll get started right away." _

"_Good. They seem to have hit a number of places in the center of town. We will be going out there tomorrow before dusk to jump them. Vamps in daylight will be easier to kill."_

"_Sewer access?"_

"_Once we find their nest, we'll have teams and traps laid out to prevent them from using the sewers. I'll debrief you formally tomorrow." Liam nodded, got up, and left looking at the file. He had it in his hand and walked up the stairs toward his room. As he rounded the corner, Delia walked past him. They both turned to face each other._

"_Hey." Delia greeted him with one of her smiles that he truly loved._

"_Hey yourself." Delia noticed the file in his hand._

"_Whatcha got there?"_

"_Just a file about a big bad that Spike wants me to read about."_

"_Anything interesting?"_

"_Just some copycats. They're easy to deal with."_

"_Really? Can I see?" She reached for the file but Liam pulled it out of her reach. He didn't want her to partake in the case he had. It seemed too dangerous for her. To him anyway._

"_No. It's nothing that needs your time really. It's really not worth it. These guys, they're….they're not really worth any effort." He lied._

"_Then why do you have the case instead of a one of the newbs?" she was catching onto his lie. He needed to do better._

"_Uh…I'm looking…I'm looking for a newb to take it. Spike just wants me to look over it to see who it should go to." Yeah, that worked. He hoped._

"_Oh, ok then. Are we still on for Friday night?"_

"_Yeah. Of course. I'll be there."_

"_Me too." They kissed before going their separate ways. Liam sighed and walked down the hall towards his room. Delia stuck her head out from the corner watching him. Liam was a good liar at times, but he still needed work. Delia followed Liam to outside his room. Liam went in and put the file in his desk. He would look at it a bit later after getting some coffee. Liam left his room and locked it with one of those high tech keypads with a number combination. Delia had been in Liam's room several times and secretly watched him do the combination, just for curiosity. Once Liam left, Delia snuck over and punched in the numbers. Liam's door opened and Delia stepped in. She looked to his desk and searched the cabinets until she found the file that Liam was hiding from her. She looked at it and was intrigued with the contents. _

_Liam walked into his room several minutes later with his coffee and sat down at his desk. He opened the drawer where the file he had on the New Whirlwind was and pulled it out. He opened it and sat it on his desk. He looked at his desk and noticed that a pen and pad of paper was lying on it. He didn't put it there. He sniffed the air and the hairs on the back of his neck went up. Delia. She was in his room and recent. Liam took the pad and a pencil and made a rubbing on the impression that was left. What Delia wrote shocked him. Delia was ok at detective work, but she apparently had been studying behind everyone's back. Through the file she looked through, she was able to figure out the location of the New Whirlwinds nest. And Liam knew Delia. She was off to find and dust the vamps._

_Delia entered a suite in a hotel where she found out the location of the New Whirlwind group. She looked around the darkened suite. If she didn't find the vamps now, she would wait for them and ambush them. She equipped herself with enough firepower to do it. She had a crossbow in hand, two stakes at her hips, and a tactical sword slung over her back. She stepped into the center of the room and the lights immediately came on. Delia looked around and found herself surrounded by four vampires. Two female, two male. They were diffidently trying to pull of the old Whirlwind. _

"_Well now, what is it we have here?" One of the male vamps said. He had black hair and wore a red silk shirt. He was obviously the leader._

"_Looks like we got ourselves a slayer." The other male said. He had blonde hair and wore black._

"_Foolish girl." One of the females said. She was blonde and in a seductive strapless dress. "Thinking you can just walk in here and take us by yourself."_

"_And I thought you were smart. Guess not." Said the other female. She was brunette and too had on a seductive dress._

"_Guess I'm smarter than I look." Delia retorted. _

"_Not by much." The leader said walking a bit closer. "You come in here with a crossbow with only one bolt. You won't be able to get any of us. By the time you fire that shot, we will have you on the ground, and I will have a real good day."_

"_Nice plan, but you're forgetting one thing."_

"_What's that?"_

"_I always win." Delia shot her crossbow at the leader but he caught it with ease._

"_And now, you lose." The blonde female said from right behind Delia in vamp face. Delia went for her sword but the brunette caught it and held it behind her back. The blonde caught the other arm and held her. The two males stepped forward, smiling in game face. _

"_This is going to be fun." The brown haired vamp said. Delia was pinned. She didn't know what to do. The doors to the suite burst open. One was flown off its hinges while the other one dangled from one. Liam stood there, looking ready to kill someone._

"_Party's over." He said._

"_Angelus?" the two female vamps said together._

"_I wish everyone would stop saying that I'm him." Liam complained._

"_It's his son." The brown haired male vamp said._

"_Not to worry." The leader said stepping forward. "He isn't like his old man. He's weaker. More…..human. Just like his soulfull dad." Liam glared at them. "I got him." Liam ran at the leader. The leader stood ready for him. Just as Liam was about to ram him, he rolled right under the leaders arms, taking out his tomahawk and chopping at the leaders leg. The leader screamed in pain. As he was kneeling down in pain, Liam bough out his wrist mounted stake and staked the leader, turning him to dust. In all of the confusion, Delia managed to get out of her captures grasp and flung one of the female vamps to the side of the room. She withdrew her sword and engaged the other female. Liam took the last make vamp. They fought and Liam chopped at his neck. It didn't go completely through so he wrenched it out and the vamp spun to the ground. Liam came over and staked him before he got up. Delia slashed at every opportunity to kill her target. The vamp was however clever. She ducked and dodged Delia's swings. She grabbed one of Delia's stakes and nearly staked her._

"_Got your stake." The vamp taunted. _

"_Prefer a sword to cut your damn head off."_

"_Good luck with that."_

"_Don't need it." Delia swung again and missed. The vamp kicked her the back and Delia went into a wall. She was disoriented a bit and narrowly dodged the stake coming at her face. The stake went into the wall and Delia swung at the next opportunity. She missed again. The vamp tried to stake but Delia caught her arm and swopped under it. She held her arm behind the vamps back and cut at her neck form behind. The vamp was dust. Delia looked the dust fall, reveling in her victory she had. She didn't notice the other vamp coming up behind her. The female vamp raised a knife up to strike Delia. She immediately turned to dust as Delia turned around. She was surprised at first, but saw the tomahawk in a column and looked at Liam who had his arm stretched out from throwing the weapon. "Thanks" Delia said to him with a smile. He lowered his arm and had an angry look. He walked over and withdrew his tomahawk, placing it back into his equipment belt before looking at Delia._

"_What….the hell?" he said to her. Her smile faded._

"_What?"_

"_You broke into my room, broke into my desk, and then went out on a dangerous adventure to kill four notorious vampires. Do you even realize how incredibly dangerous this was? You could have gotten hurt."_

"_Liam, calm down. They're dead now." that only seemed to piss Liam off even more. He rubbed a hand through his hair trying hard not to yell._

"_That is so not the point. You could have died."_

"_Well, I'm a slayer. Even with the hundreds of slayers in the world, I can still die at a very young age."_

"_Well, I don't want you to die at a young age."_

"_I know you don't but I can't really help it. I'm meant for this."_

"_The whole point of going to school is so that you can learn how to be more careful and have a better chance at surviving."_

"_What is your deal? This is how a slayer is supposed to work. Why does it bother so much?"_

"_Maybe because the woman that I am in love with is off trying to get herself killed." The words were out of Liam's mouth before he could stop himself. Both of them stared in shock at what Liam said. "I….I didn't mean to say that."_

"_You didn't?"_

"_I…..I…" Liam stammered. He was trying to find the right words to say. He was going to try and continue but stopped as he saw Delia trying to stop herself from laughing. This only got him angrier "Oh that's great, here I am saying I love you and you are laughing."_

"_I am not, I promise. It's just that, it's funny seeing you trying to communicate your deepest feelings. You might need a little practice"_

_"Delia"_

_"Liam" Liam scowled even more and started to say something but was stopped as Delia came over to him and kissed him. He was lost in the kiss_

_"Oh for what it's worth," Delia said pulling out of the kiss. "I love you too" Liam sighed in relief. "And I already knew you love me."_

_"You did? How?" Liam asked surprised._

"_That's for me to know. Anyways I was just waiting to see how long it took you to finally find the courage to come clean about it, although I was hoping for something more romantic than you coming over and giving me assistance."_

"_Giving you assistance? I just saved you ass. I took out more vamps than you and you ju…." Delia cut him off with another kiss. This time, they didn't pull away._

…

Delia remembered that moment. That moment when they professed their love for each other. She stared at Liam's unconscious body, waiting, hoping for when he woke up, she would tell him again how much she loved him.

…

"It's hopeless. Half these files I can't even read the client's names! What's this? Fizzana? Fizz, Fizzacar? What does this say to you?" Gunn asked.

"I think it's Frysylka?" Fred answered. "Oh, right. They were that couple that called last week with the squatter in their layer. Wesley was supposed to have taken care of it."

"I do apologize for that." Wesley said. "My mind was a little distracted with saving Connor."

"You mean kidnapping Connor." Xander said.

"Xander." Willow said.

"What? It's true."

"Nevertheless, I am sorry." Wes continued. "I shall get right on it." Wes took the file from Gunn. Lorne walked in.

"So, how's it coming? Making any headway on those pending file piles?" He asked.

"Better than it would have been had it not been the Scoobies coming to save us." Gunn commented.

"We're just here to help in any way we can." Tara said.

"There's just so much to keep track of." Fred said. "It's nice having a few more extra hands."

"Still." Lorne said looked at the stairs leading up. "At times like these it's good to keep busy. Throw yourself into work. Stay active."

"Lorne, they almost lost their only child." Fred said. "Their other one is in a coma and his wife hasn't seen the sun in days."

"Ah, sugar, I know. I know. I just wish they'd talk to us."

"Talk to you about what?" Buffy asked as she, Angel, and Dawn came down the stairs with Connor in Dawn's arms.

"Oh….uh…we were…"

"We were wondering how are things." Willow said. Buffy and Angel walked up to the group at the reception desk. Their expressions weren't cheerful.

"The same." Angel said.

"No development?" Wes asked.

"Delia just has nightmares." Buffy said. She had them too. Thought not as much. It reminded her too much of when Liam sacrificed himself for Connor about a year ago. She worried for him. Angel had some bad dreams as well, but he hid them better than Buffy or Delia. One of his son's was safe. The other, he didn't know. He and Buffy had already gone through the pain of losing Liam nonce before. They weren't sure if they could handle a second round with it.

"Do you think Liam will get better soon?" Dawn asked.

"Yes." Buffy said. "I'm sure of it." Faith and Spike came in from the sewers.

"Hey." Spike greeted everyone. "I hope you all don't mind, but I was talking with some contacts of mine in the city to try a find something to help Liam."

"I thought you didn't want us to do any magic." Tara said.

"I don't. But….I don't know." Spike hung his head. Faith placed on hand on his arm. "I just can't stay her not doing anything. And don't make me do paper work either. I'm all muscle here."

"Hey, anything so that we don't have to here you whine." Xander said. Both Faith and Spike glared at him.

"Did you find anything?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"Not much." Faith replied. "All this is something that apparently no one has handled before. We got a few offers with potions and spells, but they all seem a bit risky since they've never been used in this situation." Buffy didn't look any better. "Anything new?"

"No." The hotel doors opened and they all turned to see Cordy and Groo walking in, both dressed tropically, tanned and rested.

"We're back! And we're bearing gifts!" Cordy said grinning.

"Cordelia." Fred said happily.

"And Groo." Gunn added.

"Hey Cord. Welcome back." Xander greeted his ex-girlfriend. Cordy noticed the scoobies.

"Wow. Everyone's here." She said. She walked more into the lobby. "Even Spike and Faith." She added with less enthusiasm. Faith and Spike glared at her too. "So, why's everyone here? Did you guys all receive a vision of me coming back?" They all just looked at her. Their expressions of joy for seeing her were replaced with expression of sorrow and pain. Cordelia noticed their faces and knew something was wrong. "What happened?"

"It's…it's a rather long story." Wes said stepping forward.

"I don't care if it takes to the end of the century. What happened?"

"Liam." Buffy said after a beat. Cordy had shock spread across her face.

…

After Cordy was informed of the events that transpired during her absence, she decided to go see Liam and see how he and Delia were doing. She was outside their door about to knock, but hesitated.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea." Cordy said turning to Buffy and Angel.

"Cordy, you are family to him. It'll be alright." Buffy said.

"I just don't understand. How could I have visions and the powers not give one detailing all this?"

"Perhaps because they wanted all this to happen." Angel suggested.

"I don't buy it. Sure, we're supposed to suffer because we fight evil and everything, but not as much as Liam is. He's died once, been in a coma twice, and he lost every one of his family members in the future. He doesn't deserve more suffering."

"I can't give you an answer. All I can tell you is that Liam chose this. He was willing to deal with the consequences of his actions if it meant saving Connor."

"If you ask, I think it was stupid. There could have been a less dangerous way to save Connor."

"He didn't know what consequences would happen if he didn't act the way he did." Buffy said. "Things could have been worse if he let someone live longer than they did."

"Maybe. But I still say that he shouldn't have done it."

"We agree. But right now we aren't focusing on being angry." Angel said. "We're focusing on how to get Liam back."

"Just go in and see him." Buffy said. "It'll mean something to him if you did." Cordy looked back at the door, unsure of what to do. She decided to go for it and knocked on the door. There was no reply but Buffy encouraged her to go in. Cordy opened the door and entered the darkened room. She saw Liam in bed, motionless. She saw Delia curled up in a chair looking at him. Cordy walked further into the room. Delia didn't acknowledge her. Cordy walked further in, stood next to Delia, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry." She told her. Delia didn't say anything, but Cordy knew she heard her. Cordy looked to Liam's motionless body. She moved towards it and sat down next to him. She motioned to stroke his hair.

"Don't touch him." Delia growled at Cordy making her jump a little. Delia had look on her face that read 'don't touch what's mine'.

"Sorry. He just looks so…."

"I know." Cordy stood up and walked out, leaving Delia alone with Liam again. "Liam, please. Please wake up." Delia begged again. Liam just stayed in bed, unconscious. And dreaming.

…

**October 3, 2030**

**Cliffside in Ireland**

_Liam and his team just narrowly escaped the surprise attack on the Slayer HQ they were flying well away from it. The VTOL ship they were in landed outside of a cottage on a Cliffside in Ireland. The engines died and the back drop ramp went down. Liam came out first and stared at the cottage in front of him. It was his family's summer cottage for vacations. It was once a place for joy and happy memories. Now it was a constant reminder of what Liam doesn't have anymore. And now it also stood as the last thing of his families that he will ever see before leaving entirely. Bill, Collin, Danni, and Delia walked out of the gunship. The whole team walked to the cottage and Liam led them in. They walked with the utmost sadness in their stride. Just a few hours ago, their whole base was attacked and other bases were having the same problem. They didn't know what they were going to do. Liam led them inside the cottage._

"_Don't get too comfortable." Liam told them as they all looked around the cottage. "This is only temporary. We're too close to fight and will need to leave pretty soon."_

"_Where are we gonna go?" Bill asked._

"_I don't know."_

"_When will we leave?" Danni asked_

"_I don't know."_

"_Do you think anyone's still alive?" Collin asked._

"_I don't know."_

"_What are we gonna do?" Delia asked._

"_I DON'T KNOW." Liam yelled looking at his team. "Stop asking me questions that I don't know the answers to. Don't ask me what we should do, and don't ask me what I want you to do because I don't know. As of this moment we are fucked. You want to know what we should do. Let me think and stop asking questions." Liam turned and went into a room, slamming the door behind him. Delia looked after him, looking sad. So much had happened in the past several hours. Slayers all over the world were now under attack and dying. They didn't know what they could do. _

_Liam banged on the wall of his room in frustration. A picture fell from it and the frame cracked. He bent down, picked it up, and looked at it. It was a picture of his entire family during the last summer they spent together. He saw his father and mother, holding the four year old Liam and Kathy. He saw his brother smiling, being happy in his adult life. He couldn't remember that summer. He remembered nothing of his childhood except his mother's death. He placed the picture back up on the wall and whipped a single tear from his eye. He turned and sat on his bed, his face in his hands, wondering how he could help stop all of this. He didn't know. He bowed his head, something around his neck dangled. He saw his sister's cross necklace and held it. This necklace was worn by his mother and sister and by him wearing it, he often asked what they would do in desperate situations. He wondered, he thought for what seemed like hours. He didn't know. All he did know was that he had lost nearly everything dear to him. How long would it be before he lost everything? He knew that when he started this adventure of slaying demons and honoring his family, he knew that he didn't have enough time to do everything. But now, he didn't know if he had enough time to do anything. The end was near. He felt it. And he didn't know how to stop it. _

_About a week went by and the team was still cooped up in the cottage. There was barely any talking in the cottage. Liam would appear every now and then to help hunt for food, since there wasn't any food in the cottage. A comlink box was set on the dining room table for when and if anyone attempted to contact anyone else. There wasn't a single message sent since the attack._

_Liam laid flat on his back on his bed, just staring at the ceiling, brooding. He didn't what he could do. The attack rally affected him. He seemed lost. Like this was so bad that he couldn't think of any way to come back from it. _

"_Wow. It's been a while since I've seen that face." He heard a voice in his room. Liam jerked up and a saw a beautiful brunette woman, clad in white and literally glowing, standing in his room looking at him and smiling. Liam immediately stood up and went for his tomahawk._

"_Who are you?" he demanded. _

"_Wow, after all the stories you were told and the pictures you've seen of me, you still don't know my name?" The woman did seem familiar, but Loam couldn't quite put a name to her._

"_A name. I need a name." the woman scoffed at him._

"_I'm Cordelia Chase dumbass." Liam was surprised. He knew of Cordelia but never actually met her. "Remember? I was the woman who was a bitch in high school, got the visions, helped your dad, fell in love with your dad, and slept with your brother. Actually that wasn't me that was Jasmine."_

"_How…how are you here?"_

"_The Powers. They sent me to you."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because, the world is dying. Wolfram and Hart is now putting forth an apocalypse and there isn't anything we can do now to stop it."_

"_Nothing?"_

"_Nothing. They have everything covered. There is simple no way to stop them."_

"_Ok, so you come from the heavens to tell me that, not only am I fucked, the whole world is fucked."_

"_Ok, potty mouth much."_

"_Why are you here?" Liam demanded._

"_Geez. Angel 2.0. Ok, I'm here because you can't beat Wolfram and Hart now."_

"_Got that message." Liam said impatiently._

"_But you can, in the past."_

"_Now you lost me."_

"_It's simple. We lost two very important people in the past that are influential to the survival of the future."_

"_Who?"_

"_R2D2 and C3PO. Who do you think Summers? Your parents."_

"_Mom and Dad."_

"_Yeah. They were the best. We need them. And the powers need you to get them back."_

"_Sure. Or this could just be some ploy by the first to get me and my team into a trap because we are all that's left to stop what's actually happening."_

"_That's a good suggestion. You are like your parents. But this is legit. I'm really from th powers."_

"_Prove it."_

"_How?"_

"_I don't know. You stand there and someone else form the powers comes down here to back up your story."_

"_Like me." Came a voice from behind Liam. Liam turned and there stood Willow._

"_Willow?"_

"_Yep." Liam starred in shock at seeing his sister._

…

Delia still sat in hers and Liam's dark room. She was asleep in the chair with a blanket over her. Buffy walked in and saw Delia's sleeping form. She didn't want to disturb her so she quickly wrote a note and left it on the table next to her so that when she woke up, she wouldn't worry about where they had all gone. They were going to go and save Gunn from Jenoff who would take his soul. She looked over to her son's still form and gave him a kiss on the forehead before leaving. Liam continued to lay in his bed, dreaming of the time before he came to the past.

…

_Lam starred at Willow. He looked back and saw Cordy, then back at Willow. They were both there in front of him._

"_How?"_

"_Doesn't matter. What does matter is that we are here to tell you what you need to do to save the world."_

"_Saving my family."_

"_Yes. There is a spell. One I made. It's in my study in San Francisco. You have to find it. Then you have to go back in time and stop Buffy's death. Her death led to Angel's distance from the world and then his death." _

"_Not to mention that they were killed by the same person."_

"_Yes. Save Buffy, save them both."_

"_And my brother." Liam added. "He'll be saved too."_

"_Of course. But you need to find the spell. Then you need to go to a place filled with magic to fuel the spell. The spell can send you back up to two years. But with enough magic, you can go back even further."_

"_Where would I get the magic?"_

"_Sunnydale?" Cordy suggested. "Or what's left of it anyways."_

"_I thought the hellmouth there was closed permanently."_

"_Haven't you learned anything in your studies?" Willow asked. "The Sunnydale hellmouth is never closed. There has always been a pull. And there is a place not far from it that was a sacred place for the slayer."_

"_It's in the desert. By a rock formation." Cordy said._

"_I can guide you to it. Go there. Do the spell. Go back to when Buffy was killed, and save her." Liam tried to wrap his head around everything. He was going to go back in time to save his parents and hopefully the future. He was going to save his brother and hopefully his sister. His brother. His forty something year old brother. A thought came to Liam._

"_Could I….could I go back even further and…save my brother from his childhood?"_

"_No." Willow said. "It's not necessary. You need to go back to when your mother was killed."_

"_But I could go back and make Connor my moms. They wanted that. I could do that and kill the person that was responsible for everything that happened."_

"_While noble it maybe," Cordy began. "Buffy is just a bit more important. And Connor will still be your brother."_

"_My half-brother. I could make him my full brother. And I could save him form Quor'toth and prevent the thing with Jasmine."_

"_Thoughtful. But no. you need to save Buffy and Angel."_

"_Alright." Liam reluctantly said. "What about my team?"_

"_They can't go. Too many people from the future in the past is too risky. And if Wolfram and Hart know about your mission, your team will need to be here to stop them from following you."_

"_I can't just leave them."_

"_You're gonna have to." Cordy said. "You need to go back into the past. They're needed here."_

"_For what intentional purpose?"_

"_Sorry AJ, but that's not your concern. You need to go back alone and save your parents. That way the future might be saved." Liam sighed heavily. He didn't want to leave his team, his family. But what Cordelia and Willow were telling him to do, if he didn't, what would happen._

"_Where do I start?"_

"_San Francisco." Willow answered. "My study. Find the spell. Save the past, and save the future."_

"_I'll get right on it."_

…

_Delia sat starring at Liam's still form in bed. She was so worried. Liam gave no sign that he would wake up. No sign that he would be fine. It was killing her. She looked down in despair as her hope that Liam would wake up was dissipating. She jerked her head up suddenly to the sound a moan. She looked at Liam in bed and he had his eyes open and blinking. _

"_What happened?" he asked. A smile spread across Delia's face at the site of her now conscious husband._

"_Liam?" she stood up. Liam held his head and moaned some more._

"_Some headache." Liam said. Delia was overjoyed with the fact that Liam was awake. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. Liam gasped in pain. Delia didn't realized she was using her slayer strength. She quickly pulled away but kept her hands on his shoulders._

"_Sorry. Sorry. I'm just so happy you're awake."_

"_Thanks. I guess." Delia didn't register the comment as she kissed Liam with so much passion. However Liam wasn't kissing back. She pulled away to look at him. He starred at her in shock. She looked confused. "Who are you?" he asked. Delia was now the one in shock._

…

_Delia woke up from another bad dream. This one was new. Liam not knowing who she was. That just might be the worst thing to happen to her. She looked at the table next to her and noticed a note. She picked it up and read it. It said that Buffy and the gang were out trying to save Gunn's soul. Delia shook her head wondering why someone would want Gunn's soul and how Gunn got himself in that situation. She put the note down and looked over at Liam. The site she saw made her eyes widen and stand up. Liam wasn't in bed. _

"_Liam?" she whispered. "Liam?" a little louder. No response. Fear gripped her. She checked the bathroom but it looked like it hadn't been used in days. She tore out of the room. "LIAM!" she screamed his name searching for him. She searched throughout the entire hotel looking for Liam, shouting his name. She was hyperventilating as scary scenarios went through her head. Wolfram and Hart kidnapping Liam, Justine kidnapping Liam, Liam waking up with no memory and wondering about. As she ran through the halls, tears fell from her eyes. She looked all around for Liam or any sign of the scoobies. There wasn't any. She entered the lobby but no one was there. She went to the phone to call them, but there was no dial tone. Delia didn't no what was going on. She went to outside and searched for another way to find the gang. But she looked out at deserted streets. There wasn't a car, a person, or even a turned on street lamp for miles. "Hello?" she called out. There was no reply. "HELLO?" she said louder. All she heard was her own echo. "ANYONE?" there was still nothing. Delia felt very alone now. She had lost her husband, her friends, her family, and now she was all alone. She slumped to the ground, a blank expression etched across her face. "Liam." She said. "Liam." She kept calling his name. _

…

Delia was curled up in the armchair asleep. She was fidgeting a little. She was having another nightmare in a nightmare. She wasn't doing well. Liam was still lying motionless in bed, dreaming.

…

_Liam stood in front of his team in the cottage in Ireland. He called this meeting shortly after his with Willow and Cordelia._

"_I called you all to this meeting for one thing and one thing only." Liam began. "To stop Wolfram and Hart from destroying the world."_

"_And how exactly do we do that?" Bill asked. "It's not like we don't have a psychic in our midst who can point us in the right direction."_

"_No. We don't. But to be honest, we have nothing here anymore. Have you guys not been listening to what radio we get here in the past two weeks?" Liam begun to pace. "Famine, disease, crime, chaos. All of this is that signs of the apocalypse. And we don't know what resources we have now, to combat this."_

"_So what do you propose?" Collin asked._

"_We…we are not going to do anything. Unfortunately, I am going to do something."_

"_You? You alone?" Danni asked._

"_Yeah. And you all are going to help get started. After that, you guys are on your own."_

"_What exactly are your intentions?" Bill asked. "You said we don't have the sources to battle these guys. Do you want to go to another dimension and gather and army?"_

"_Close. We are going to go back to the States. To San Francisco."_

"_San Francisco?" Delia asked. "Why there?"_

"_Because there is Willow's study. We will go in, find a specific spell, then we will go to the outskirts of Sunnydale Crater. We will do the spell, and I will go back in time."_

"_Back in time?" Danni asked sounding horrified. _

"_Yes. I go back in time and save Buffy. She was the only true slayer and the only thing that kept Angel fighting. If I save her, I save him. The Slayer and The Vampire with a Soul fighting together. They were meant to save humanity and since they died, we don't have that." They all starred at Liam in shock. "I'm gonna go back and save them. We save them, they fight harder, we fight harder, and Wolfram and Hart won't be able to initiate the apocalypse."_

"_Do you even hear yourself?" Collin said standing up. "You're talking about time travel here. Something that could totally screw everything up."_

"_But I won't. I know what to fix. I know when to do it. I'll return here and if anything has changed not for the better, I'll fix it. I'm not asking you guys to approve. I'm asking you guys if you wish to help. This isn't a debate. This is an ultimatum. Either help me or don't. I don't care at this point. But it's all we've got left." They all starred at each other, thinking about Liam's proposal. "So what's it gonna be?"_

"_What are we supposed to do?" Bill asked._

"_I don't know." Liam answered truthfully. "Hold fast until the world changes for the better."_

"_And why can't we come with you?" Delia asked. "We could help."_

"_If Wolfram and Hart get wind of my plans they will come after me. I need you guys her to stop them. Defend the site and make sure that no one comes back for me. I trust you guys, more than I trust all the slayers in the world. I need you." They all stayed silent for several seconds. Unsure about how to approach this. Then bill stood up._

"_I'm in." he said. "You're completely and utterly crazy, but I'm in." Collin stood up._

"_I am too." He said. "I'm fucked either way so why not." Liam smiled at them and looked to Danni._

"_Danni?" Liam asked. Danni looked up at him and stood up._

"_You need a witch anyway to pull it off." She said. "And I don't see anyone else stepping forward." Liam smiled at his cousins. Then he looked to his girlfriend. The one he loved most in the whole world._

"_Delia?" Delia looked up at him and didn't say anything. They continued to stare at each other. Then Delia stood up. _

"_I don't suppose there is any way for me to change your mind?" she asked. Liam nodded. "Then I guess I'm in." She didn't seem all that happy or enthusiastic. _

"_Thank you. Get some sleep. We leave tomorrow for the states. Once there we will drop the VTOL and get something less conspicuous. We don't want wondering eyes." They all nodded._

_Liam sat in his room waiting for everyone to be ready to leave. His plan to save the past was absurd. But like he said, what other choice did he have. Willow and Cordelia surely didn't give him much option. But they were right. They were finished here. They needed Liam's parents. Cordelia and Willow told Liam that he shouldn't try and save Connor. But Liam wasn't going to choose between which family to save. He saves all of them, or none of them. There was no in between for him. He would go back and save his brother and by saving Connor, he would save his parents in the process. Three birds, one stone. Delia came into his room and saw him sitting on the bed. _

"_Liam, we're ready."_

"_Ok." Liam said. "I'll be there in a bit." Liam didn't move. Delia walked forward and sat down beside him._

"_So you're really gonna do this." _

"_I have to."_

"_All by yourself."_

"_I want you all to come with me." Delia looked at Liam. "Cordelia and Willow came to me."_

"_What?"_

"_They came and told me that I had to go. By myself. I want you all to come with me but….."_

"_No. I understand. This is something you have to do. On your own."_

"_Maybe not for long." Delia looked at him quizzically. He turned to face her. "How about, if nothing happens her by Christmas, if the world is still shit, then you come back too. Come back one year after I arrived, find me, and we'll be together again. And you can help me." He placed a loving hand on her cheek and whipped a tear away._

"_I'd like that." They leaned into each other and kissed. "I love you."_

"_I love you."_

…

Liam's eyes squinted and they opened, blinking. Liam brushed off the fatigue and held his head. He blinked more and once got his vision back, sat up and looked around. He saw that he was in his room at the Hyperion. He was home. He looked down at his person and saw that he was shirtless and had a big circular scar on his abdomen. He wondered how he got it, but the memories of when he morphed and killed Sahjhan came back to him. He was injured, he morphed, killed Sahjhan, attacked his family, bit Delia, fought his parents, Delia gave him the potion, and now he was in bed. Liam was shocked when he remembered biting and drinking form Delia. He looked around and found his wife sleeping in an armchair, apparently having a nightmare.

"Delia." He whispered. She gave no response. She just kept fidgeting from the nightmare. "Delia." Liam said a little louder and moved out of bed. He moaned as his muscles were sore. But he bushed it off and knelt bedside Delia. "Delia."

"Liam." Delia called out to him. "Liam." She didn't wake up. Liam began to shake her awake. She opened her eyes and screamed. She was still in her room at the Hyperion. She just had another nightmare.

"Delia. Delia it's me," She her a familiar voice. She looked up and saw the face of her husband before her. She was in disbelief. "Delia, I'm here. It's just a bad dream. I'm right here." He said to calm her. She continued to look at him, hoping it wasn't another dream. She raised her hands and ran them all over his face not believing he was here and awake.

"Liam?" she asked.

"I'm here Delia." Liam said running a hand alongside her face. "I'm ok. Just took me awhile, but I'm here. I'm sorry." Delia hugged him and started sobbing. She rubbed his back, checking to see if he was really there in her arms, alive and well. She pulled back and kissed his neck, shoulders, cheeks, nose, anything that she could find to kiss on his face.

"Don't ever do that again you understand me, don't ever do that again." She said somewhat threateningly but also pleading. "Don't ever scare me like that ever!" She finally calmed down and hugged him, crying softly.

"Shh. Shh. It's ok. It's ok love. I'm not going anywhere." Liam said calming her more. "Not ever again." The couple stayed hugging each other for several minutes. "I'm sorry. For everything. Biting you, drinking you, being unconscious. I'm so sorry."

"Please. Don't ever leave me."

"I won't. I promise." It was these moments that the two loved. Just them, holding each other. That was it. Delia held Liam tight, not wanting to let go. She held on with her arms and wrapped her legs around him. She didn't want to let go of him. Liam held on to her and stoked her hair. Delia kept crying. Liam kissed her hair to reassure that he was there.

"I love you." She said to him. It had been so long to her since she said those words.

"I love you." Liam said to her. Delia kissed him with so much passion in it and then some. Liam returned the kiss with just as much passion. Delia pulled back and hugged Liam again. Liam rubbed her back and assured her he was back and there to stay

...

**I don't think it was one of my best chapters, but I kinda needed a chapter where Liam comes back. So here it is. More to come. Comment and review.**


	24. The Price

Chapter 24: The Price

**Hey guys, sorry about the late update. I had my job and the late hours to deal with and then I had school to do. But I always put a bit more into each and every chapter as the days go by. Hopefully next chapter won't be so late like this one. Enjoy.**

A shower was running and a bathroom was steamy. Liam stood in the shower, leaning on the wall, letting the water soak his back. He had woken up about an hour ago and felt really sore, so he took a shower to ease the soreness. When he felt like he had enough, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. As he stepped out, he took a step and slipped and landed hard on his side. He let out a groan. Delia immediately ran into the bathroom to Liam's groan and saw him lying on the floor. She bent down to check on him.

"Liam, are you ok?" she asked frantically.

"Yeah, think so." Liam groaned and sat up. "Guess I'm not that coordinated as I used to be."

"Would you like help?" Delia offered and rubbed his back.

"That'd be great." Delia put her arm under Liam's and lifted him up. She led him over to the sink and he leaned on it to give himself support. He was really uncoordinated. He could barely walk two steps before having to lean on something to give him support.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Delia asked.

"Considering I'm not in a coma, I'm doing great." Liam took a towel and rubbed the steam off of the mirror. He starred at his reflection. He saw himself, dripping wet, but also battered and beaten. He saw the big circular scar on his abdomen from where Sahjhan punched him. But that wasn't the only scar. He saw claw marks on his torso from way back when he fought the Van-tals. He ran his fingers against the claw marks that weren't there before. The magic of the potion reversed everything that the hell energy form the portal did to him. His superior accelerated healing ability wasn't there anymore. His scars were now visible. Delia rubbed a hand on his chest and looked at the scars too.

"Those weren't there before." Delia said.

"They are now." Liam said. He looked at his face in the mirror and saw that he had grown some facial hair and he needed a haircut soon. He opened the cabinet and took out some shaving cream and a razor.

"Need help?" Delia offered again.

"I think I'm still capable at shaving." Liam responded with a smile. Delia nodded and left the bathroom.

After a clean shave a good attempt at a haircut, Liam exited the bathroom, leaning on everything to steady himself. He made an attempt for the bed but tripped on the bedside table and fell over. Delia came running over to him again.

"Ok, that's it. I am helping you with everything." Delia said determinedly.

"Fine." Liam agreed. "I could actually use the help." In the result of his fall, his towel around his waist became loose and fell down as Delia helped him up. Delia walked him to the bed and sat him down.

"Want me to get something to cover you up?" Delia asked.

"Please. Getting cold here." Liam said. Delia went over to the dresser and pulled out some boxers and Liam's favorite dark blue jeans.

"What shirt do you want?"

"Well, most of my wardrobe is black so it really doesn't matter." Liam chuckled.

"I'm little surprised we haven't gotten our clothes mixed up." Delia said as she took out a black t-shirt for Liam.

"I'm pretty sure I wore one of your shirts one time." Liam laughed. Delia gave a small smile before it dropped. She brought the clothes over to him. "Thanks." Liam put on his clothes, wincing at some of the soreness he still felt. "Where's the rest of the gang?"

"They went out to save Gunn's soul. Not sure why though."

"Why they need to save Gunn's soul?"

"Why Gunn's soul needed to be saved in the first place." She clarified. Liam nodded and finished putting on his clothes. "So what are going to do now?"

"I was thinking of seeing the family." Liam suggested.

"They'll be thrilled to see you awake."

"I bet. I wonder what kinda hell I put mom and dad through."

"Yeah. I wonder." Delia said aloofly. Liam noticed this.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, fine." Delia said. Liam nodded but he could sense that she wasn't completely fine.

…

The Scooby Gang and AI team walked into the hotel after saving Gunn's soul. Willow, Dawn, Tara, and Lorne had stayed behind to look after Connor. They were playing in the lobby as the rest of the gang came in.

"Gunn, I don't care what your reason is. It was still very stupid." Buffy said as she walked in.

"Hey, I was nineteen." Gunn defended himself. "I also didn't believe I would live this long."

"I for one defend you, Gunn." Xander said. "I probably would have done the same."

"You see. Someone agrees with me."

"Of course he would. He's a guy." Cordy commented.

"Just him." Angel said.

"What did Gunn do?" Willow asked as Buffy came over and took Connor from her.

"He sold his soul for his beat up truck." Fred said.

"A truck?" Dawn and Tara said together, sounding surprised.

"You mean that old excuse for a vehicle?" Lorne asked.

"Apparently so." Wes said.

"Hey, don't nobody be dissin' my girl." Gunn said. "That thing saved my life time after time again."

"Yeah, don't diss a man's ride." Spike said. "Sometimes it's all he's got."

"Back him up even more and it'll be all you got." Faith threatened.

"You know Gunn, if you sold your soul for a girl I could understand." Spike said taking a new perspective.

"Whipped." Gunn said.

"I am not whipped." Spike defended himself.

"He really isn't." they all heard a voice say. They all turned to see Delia supporting a conscious Liam down the stairs. Smiles spread across everyone's face.

"Liam." Liam's parents said happily. Delia got Liam to the bottom steps and his parents came over and hugged him. First it was Buffy and Connor, then it was Angel. As Liam hugged the both of them, he also was leaning on them to keep himself from falling.

"Well if it isn't little AJ back from his time in slumberland." Lorne said happily looking at Liam.

"You're awake." Fred said.

"Alright, future boy is back." Gunn cheered.

"Yep. I'm back." Liam said. Dawn ran over to Liam and gave him a really big hug.

"You're back." Dawn said happily.

"Yes, Dawn. I'm back. But you're suffocating me."

"Sorry." Dawn quickly let go of Liam, but Liam was using Dawn as a crutch and nearly fell over. Angel caught him before he could hit the ground.

"You ok?" Angel asked.

"Just sore and unbalanced." Liam replied.

"Here, come sit." Buffy offered and Angel helped Liam to the settee. Everyone gathered around him to give him hugs and handshakes. Delia stood the side looking at the scene.

"Welcome back." Wes greeted Liam.

"Good to be back." Liam said.

"How ya feelin' Liam?" Xander asked.

"Like I spent four days in a coma." Liam replied.

"Can we get you anything?" Tara offered.

"Some coffee would be nice."

"I got it." Gunn said and went to get the coffee.

"Liam, it is good to see you awake and well again." Groo said.

"Thanks Groo." Liam looked at the Groosalugg and his new appearance. "Vacation life has really given you a more earthly appearance."

"Yes. The place we visited, Mexico, was very sunny and very hot. But really quite enjoyable."

"You should have come with us." Cordy said. You know, when you aren't saving everyone and going into comas."

"Glad you had fun." Liam said. Gunn came back with a fresh cup of coffee for Liam and he drank some of it. He smiled and leaned back on the settee. "That's good." He looked around at everyone he had ever loved that was in his life, standing looking at him. "So why is everyone that I know in the past here in LA?"

"They came because they care about you." Buffy informed him.

"Had us all worried there nephew." Spike said. "Some were worried that you would never wake up."

"What? Did you guys make a poll to see how long I would be out?" Liam asked.

"No." Spike quickly said but he and a few others exchanged looks. Liam noticed.

"Ok." Connor started to get a little fussy as he was reaching for Liam and couldn't touch him.

"I think someone wants his big brother." Buffy said.

"I'm his little brother." Liam said as he took Connor. Connor smiled and gurgled as Liam held him. Liam smiled at his brother. "Hey there Connor. Glad to see you all grown down instead of all grown up." Liam looked to his parents. "Did Wes tell you guys what we did?"

"Yes he did. And one, we are really pissed that you kept something this big from us."

"And we are even more pissed that you decided to go off and nearly get yourself killed for Connor." Angel said.

"But we are glad that both you and he are safe. Thank you." Buffy leaned and kissed Liam on the cheek.

"The only we are truly safe is if every one of his enemies are dead. So I need to know. What of Holtz?" buffy smiled at placed a hand on Liam's shoulder.

"He's dead." Liam closed his eyes and sighed happily. "He was in Wes' car when it went over a causeway and got totaled."

"And since my car was destroyed in your plan, I hope you will replace it like you said you would." Wes said.

"Ok, Wes. New car for you. I promise." Liam assured him.

"Excellent. And by the way, I wouldn't mind a Porsche."

"You're getting what I can buy you." Liam told him. He looked down at Connor again and smiled really wide.

"Liam? You ok?" Buffy asked him. Liam looked up at her and looked to everyone else.

"For the first time in a long time, I finally feel something that hasn't been there since I came to the past."

"What's that?" Angel asked.

"Peace." Everyone and Liam smiled. Delia smiled too, but it wasn't as happy looking as everyone else's. "And by the way."

"Yeah."

"Wes, you win the pool."

"Yes." Wes said in delight as he just won the bet that most of everyone had going on.

"What? How'd you know?" Spike asked.

"Delia told me." Liam said. "Wes bet that I'd be in a coma for four days. Four days have passed."

"Thank you, Liam." Wes said as he got his money from everyone. Liam laughed at the scene.

…

The next day, the entire Scooby gang minus Buffy and Angel, decided to head back to Sunnydale to deal with the Trio there while the A.I. team cleaned up things in LA. Liam wanted to make sure that everything was done and dusted in LA with Connor before actually trying to enjoy life. He walked into the reception area and looked around. He was now able to walk again without help after a few tries. He walked into the office and looked around at the changed scenery. He saw that all of Wes' belongings weren't here anymore. In fact, it looked like Wes pretty much cleaned out.

"I resigned." Liam heard a familiar British voice say from behind him. Liam smiled.

"I thought you might." Liam said turning to Wesley who was at the entrance. "Let me guess. I felt that after everything, you weren't leadership material."

"Basically." Wes shrugged. Liam nodded and walked over to Wesley. "There is a level of distrust amongst everyone towards me."

"Everyone?"

"Well, your father trusts me enough to have his back."

"And mom?"

"She feels the same. Although I doubt that they will let me anywhere near Connor."

"That's to be expected." Liam and Wes looked at each other for several seconds. "Wes," Liam held out his hand. "Thank you." Wes looked at it and grabbed it, shaking it. "You helped save my brother."

"I suppose that it was repentance for what I did before."

"What you did before, was try to save him from my father when you believed a false prophecy. Anyone in your position would have done the same thing."

"Or maybe talked to Buffy and Angel. Or even the rest of the team."

"Maybe so." Liam placed a hand on Wes' shoulder. "But right now, you helped save my brother from a fate that no one should have to live with. I owe you, Uncle Wes." Liam smiled. Wesley smiled at the sound of 'Uncle Wesley'. He was considered family to Liam.

"Thank you Liam. But I feel it is I who should owe you. You have done much for us and this world by coming to the past and changing the outcome of events to save many lives. You also save Connor, your parents, and you stopped me from making a huge error and ruining Connor and Angel's lives. I owe you."

"See it however you want Wes." Liam chuckled. "But felt like I should help the person I get my name from."

"Excuse me?" Wesley asked confused.

"Your name is my middle name." Liam informed him. "Or one of them anyway. Dad thought highly of you. Even after what you did with Connor in my time, he still saw you as a dear friend. Guess that's why he named me after you."

"I feel honored." Wes said sounding surprised and glad at the same time. Liam laughed at Wesley's reaction and enveloped him in a hug.

"You're family Wes. I'd help you even if I wasn't named after you." Liam and Wes stayed hugging before having to pull away before it got really awkward.

…

Angel was sitting behind his desk, looking through some files. Buffy sat in the chair across the desk from him, playing with a happy Connor. Angel looked at the scene and smiled. He had his son and he wasn't living in some hell dimension. Liam walked in the office smiling at his happy a family. He bent down and kissed his mother's head and greeted his brother. Angel had his other son to thank for that. The only thing to make this scene perfect to him is having his daughter with him now.

Fred, Gunn, Wes, and Delia looked in on them through the opening from the lobby.

"It's funny. I keep expecting to find Wesley sitting in that chair. It's weird, seeing Angel sitting there now." Fred said.

"It was his when I got here. It seems right that it's his again." Gunn replied.

"I fully agree." Wes said. "This is after all 'Angel' investigations. It's his agency and therefore he should be in charge again."

"Especially after you kidnapped his son."

"It was all part of Liam's plan." Wes reminded him.

"Yeah, Liam's plan." Delia said dully looking at Liam's happy face as he was with his family. She was happy for him that his family was back together and Connor wasn't sixteen years older than he should be. But Delia couldn't help feeling a bit of sadness. Her own sadness for her own reasons. She looked away from the happy scene in the office.

"I'm just saying that I didn't see an alternative to it." Wes continued. "Liam need to get everyone of Connor's enemies in one place to take them all out. He needed me to do exactly what I did before to ensure that that would happen."

"Whatever. All I'm saying is next time you kidnap one of theirs, tell everyone before you do it." Gunn said as he walked off. Fred turned back to watching the happy family. Cordy walked into the lobby and saw Delia and Fred sitting on the settee. Fred kept watching the family while Delia looked like she was of in her own little world.

"What's going on here?" Cordy asked the girls.

"Just looking at the happy scene." Fred indicated to the office. Cordy looked and saw every one of the Summers happy faces. Buffy and Liam tickled Connor while Angel looked at them, smiling and laughing, forgetting all about the case files. Cordy smiled at them.

"It's quite a sight." Cordy commented.

"And to think, in some alternate timeline made by a paradox created by a temporal loop do the constant changing of events and their outcomes…."

"Fred." Cordy interrupted her. "Ruining moment."

"To think that in some other time, we'd be looking at a heartbroken family who just lost their only son." Fred said.

"Or even just Angel." Cordy said. She didn't notice Groo coming in."Buffy and Angel's feelings are the only ones I care about. They're my priority. I got dosed with demon DNA for Angel. I'm semi-demon and I still don't know what that means." In the background, unnoticed, Groo set down the empty bucket and slowly turned to leave. "Apart form the random float-iness and seizure less visions, which is keen, sometimes it's hard to tell when I'm. Angel?"

Cordy saw a vision of Angel getting flung across the lobby.

Angel was leaning on the window frame of the office window with Buffy in front of him, holding Connor in her arms. Liam stood next to them.

"What's going on?" Angel asked.

"Oh, I tell you what's going on." They all turned to see Lorne entering the Hyperion. "Big bru-ha-ha at the juice bar across the street. Only light on the ha-ha. Some guy over there is cracking up."

…

A pale gray skinned man with big cracks on his face, grabbed a hold of the one of the attendants.

"Here, get a save ticket, just don't hurt me..." the attendant said. The guy tossed the kid on the floor and started to drink the juice right out of the blender. The last remaining customers hurried out just as Angel, Buffy, Liam and the others walked in. Delia decided to saty at the Hyperion to babysit Connor. Liam had asked her again if she was ok but she shrugged him off.

"One minute you're standing there all shocked looking, then whammo! You're thrown across the..." Cordy was saying.

"Cordy, can we talk about it later? I'm working here." Angel said. The attendant picked himself back up and was running past the team.

"Look out! The dude's got Ebola or something." The attendant said.

"Is Ebola a weapon forged in magic?" Groo asked.

"No, forged in monkey poo." Lorne answered

"Okay, sir, you wanna just put down the super size or..." Angel trailed off as the guy lowered the blender and turned around, spraying the wall with juice in the process.

"I know you." Buffy said. The guy went back to gulping the juice remaining in the blender.

"You do?" Liam asked.

"This is the guy that came to the office this morning." Angel informed.

"You didn't mention he was a mummy, man." Gunn said.

"He's not. I mean, he wasn't. He's..."

"Phillip J. Spivey from Ingelwood according to his license." Fred said as she picked up the wallet left lying on the counter.

"Mr. Spivey? Phil? Hi. Remember me? We're just gonna take a walk to my office across the street and ah, and figure out what's what. Is that okay with you?" Angel asked, slowly inching forward towards Phil.

"We're thirsty!" Phil cried.

"I take that as a no." Phil picked up the base of the blender to brain Angel with it, but Buffy stepped up and quickly knocked him out giving Phil a disgusted look, then turned to the others with the same face.

"His skin was icky feeling." Buffy said.

"Okay, people, looks like we got a case." Liam said. Groo carried Phil's unconscious body as everyone tramped back into the Hyperion. Delia was in the lobby with Connor when they entered.

"Ah, lets get him on the couch." Angel said. Delia moved out of the way as Groo put Phil down on the couch.

"What happened?" She asked Liam.

"So guy went crazy at a juice bar." He informed her.

"Oh my god. Look at his face." Fred said.

"Crazy at a juice bar with a cracked face. Things are just way too weird in the past." Delia said

"You're telling me." Liam said.

"Wes, do we, do we have any water in the fridge?" Angel asked

"In bottles I think." Wes said.

"We, we're gonna need them."

"And some lip balm wouldn't hurt either." Lorne said.

"Angel?" Buffy asked, stepping up to him.

"We." Angel said quietly.

"Glad you're having fun with this." Gunn said behind them.

"No. 'We,' he kept saying we. This morning it's we have to go. Now it's we're thirsty."

"Okay, so he's pretentious." Buffy said.

"Angel, we need to talk about my vision." Cordy piped up.

"Well, it can wait." Angel said as he looked through Phil's wallet.

"No. It can't. You think the Powers beam me pretty pictures purely for my amusement? They tell me when someone's in danger and that someone is you!"

"Oh, gee. I'm in danger. What else is new? Look, I wanna deal with somebody else's problem for a change. I wanna deal with Mr. Phillip Spivey of Inglewood who came to us this morning for help. He's the one we should be concerned with, not me! This has nothing to do with me!" Lorne and Wesley came back carrying some bottled water. Fred's eyes went wide and she let out a gasp. Phil was standing next to the couch pointing straight at Liam and Delia. "You! This is all happening because of you two! This is all your fault." With that, Phil toppled forward, his body shattering to pieces as it hit the floor.

"Our fault?" Liam asked.

"That's what the sandman said." Delia answered.

"How is this our fault? I never met the man. What'd he go and say that for?"

"Uh, he didn't. That did." Lorne said. Lorne pointed at the body and as something moved under its jacket, then the ghost shrimp skittered out of Phil's collar. Cordy lets out a scream and jumped up to sit on the lobby counter in an effort to get out of its way as it skittered across the floor.

"Okay. That was a thing." Gunn said.

"A big, ugly slug thing." Buffy said staring after the thing.

"Where did it go?" Cordy squeaked.

"It has vanished. Just like the glass eels in Scrag swamp in Uxemburg." Groo said. Everyone looked at him. "I'm just making an observation."

"So, what the hell was it?" Delia asked.

"Don't look at me. I don't know what it is or what it has to do with…." Liam trialed off and thought for a moment. "us." Liam finshed, looking at Delia in bewilderment.

"Liam?" Buffy asked.

"The pentagram." Liam said. Delia's eyes widened.

"The one that we…."

"No other explanation."

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked.

"The spell that I used to make Sahjhan corporeal required considerable amount of dark magic. The more power the magic, the higher the price. I think that thing was the price." Angel starred at his son.

"If you used that much dark magic to make Sahjhan corporeal, why is this slug thing here and not at the pentagram you used?"

"Because I burned the pentagram and the warehouse we used down. It's probably here because I'm the spell caster." Angel walked over to the weapons cabinet and handed out swords.

"I'm not really the hunter type. Can't I just come along for moral support?" Lorne asked.

"Hotel shut tight." Cordy said.

"Good. I don't want anyone else getting infected." Angel said. Groo reached past Angel and picked an ax from the cabinet.

"This weapon should serve me better." Groo said.

"Ah, a little big for our purpose, don't you think?" Angel asked.

"I've had no complaints."

"Yeah, great. Okay, Cordy, you and Groo start with the third floor. Make a sweep, work your way down."

"Hey, exactly how do we know that slicing and dicing is going to do the trick on Mr. Sluggo, here?" Lorne asked.

"We don't. That's why Wes' gonna hit the books and see what we're dealing with."

"I'll start with Thaumogenisis and work my way from there." Wes said going to the office.

"Gunn. Keep watch." Liam said.

"Watch close, this thing's hard to see." Angel said.

"This thing drank every speck of moisture out of a man's body." Cordy said. Angel stopped and looked at her. "Well, I'm just saying, don't you think we should wait to see what Wesley finds out before we go around chasing after it?"

"The longer we wait the sooner that thing finds a way out of here and into the world. I'm not gonna let that happen. Lorne, Fred, I want you to stay and protect Connor." Fred nodded and took Connor from Delia. "Liam, you and I will be in one group. Buffy and Delia will be in another."

"Got it." Liam said.

"Wait. What?" Delia said.

"What's the matter? Don't want to go with me?" Buffy asked her looking offended. Delia ignored her and went over to Liam.

"Liam."

"Delia, it'll be fine. Two slayers together seems the more likely course of action to me. Besides, I'll be with my dad. I'll be fine." This did not reassure Delia so much. But she nodded and agreed to go with Buffy.

"Let's go." Angel said.

…

Liam followed Angel down some stairs. Angel had a sword and Liam had his sister's tomahawk and knife out.

"I don't wanna hear it." Liam said.

"I didn't say anything." Angel said.

"Let's keep it that way." They walked some more.

"I'm not saying that what you did wasn't right…"

"Dad, it's my mess. I'm cleaning it up. What more do you want?"

"I just want to know why you even considered using dark magic in the first place."

"I spent the better part of last year looking up how to turn Sahjhan corporeal. I didn't find anything in the resources that I had so I went to the only other resource available. That led me to Wolfram and Hart and their idea."

"There's a price to pay. You of all people should know there's always a price. The question is: is it one worth paying?"

"It is when it comes to family." Liam stopped and turned to his father. "And in case you hadn't noticed, your son is alive, happy and well on earth and not in some hell dimension, fighting every minute of every day to survive. He also loves you because he knows that you are his father. I'd say that was worth all of this."

"Until those slugs infect my son and make him crumble to dust."

"That won't happen." Liam growled. "I spent way too much time and effort to make sure Connor was ok. I'm not going to stop all because I saved him from a hell dimension." Liam turned and started walking again. Angel followed. They heard some slurping noises and Angel led the way into one of the hotel rooms. He turned on the light as they made their way across it to another door. Angel slowly pushed it open to reveal one of the ghost shrimps hanging on the side of an open toilet tank, slurping up the water in the tank. "That's nasty." The thing let out a squeak and jumped towards them. Liam raised his tomahawk to strike at it. He threw it, nailing the glowing worm thing to the floor. "Really nasty. Reminds me of bugs." They crouched closer and watched the thing's struggles cease. Suddenly the thing streaked away as if the tomahawk no longer pinned it.

…

Delia and Buffy were walking through a hallway. Delia had her sword out and Buffy had a crossbow and dagger with her. The slayers hadn't said a single word to each other since they started to search. It was Buff that broke the silence.

"So….I bet you're glad Liam's awake." She said.

"Yeah." Delia said.

"And now that Connor is safe and all, you two might be able to go back to the future and have a life together."

"We're not done yet." Delia informed her.

"Oh. So I guess there's more."

"Yeah. There's more."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Not sure yet." They continued to walk through the halls. "I know that I might be a little young for this and it might be kinda weird but…are you and Liam thinking about having kids?"

"What do you want from me?" Delia asked turning around to face Buffy.

"What? I just asked." Buffy defended herself. "Sorry if I struck a nerve."

"Liam and I don't have time to do couple stuff. We have our hands full trying to save the future and Liam's family. Not only that, we can't have children so long as we are in the past. It wouldn't be right."

"Why not?"

"Two people from the future having a kid in the past. Tell me how exactly that works out." Buffy thought about it and saw what Delia and Liam were seeing. It would be total weird to have children if you were in the past. "And besides, what we have to do to save the future would put ourselves in danger. How can we save the future and raise a child at the same time?" She paused. "Liam focused on saving the past to save the future so that we can have one." She turned and began walking again. "That is if he lives." She muttered to himself. Buffy followed. Delia gave a shriek as a slug scurried through the crack of a door and down the hall. Buffy took aim and fired the crossbow, nailing the slug. Buffy smiled triumphantly. Then the slug scurried away as if the crossbow wasn't there.

"Ew."

…

Cordy and Groo were walking down one of the hallways in the Hyperion.

"Poor Liam and Delai. It's eating at them." Cordy said.

"Having another vision, princess?" Groo asked.

"What? No. Knowing it was the spell they performed trying to save Conner that made this, whatever it is, that we're hunting. Knowing that it caused a man's death."

"They are your priority."

"What?"

"You said earlier that Buffy and Angel's feelings were your only concern. They were all that mattered." Cordy stopped and turned to face Groo.

"Oh. Oh, no, Grooy, I, I meant 'work' priority. Work. You see, you, you're my, other stuff priority. You get that, right?" Groo slowly lifted his ax. "Groo, honey. We can talk about this."

"Do not move." Cordy heard the liquid skittering of one of the slug-things behind her and spun around. She slashed at the wall. She missed the thing completely and it skittered away into a mail slot in the wall.

"It's going down. Come on." Cordy said.

"I instructed you not to move."

"Well, gee, forgive me for saving my own life." They hurried down the hall together.

"I would not let harm come to you." Groo said.

They opened a door and ran into Angel, Liam, Buffy, and Delai coming the other way.

"We saw it! You saw it?!" Angel, Cordy, and Buffy said together.

…

"There's more than one?" Gunn asked.

"At least three, but we should probably assume there are more." Buffy said.

"Ah, do we have to?" Lorne asked.

"Yes. We don't know enough about these things to say that there can only be one." Liam said. "They just might be able to multiply."

"But at least we have one advantage." Angel said.

"What? They glow in the dark?" Lorne said. "How is that gonna help unless we shut off all the lights in the….holy crap you're not serious." Angel inspected the flashlight he'd pulled out of one of the cabinets in his office.

"Those things are hard enough to kill as it is. Liam speared one and it was strong enough to attack us and escape." Angel handed out flashlights. "This makes them easier to find, I'd say we take the chance."

"All the lights?" Wes asked. Angel held out a gas lantern to Wes.

"Here, take this. Lock yourself in the office. We still need answers, Wes."

"Bet you like using this old thing." Delai said to Wes, talking about the lantern. Wes gave her a look.

"Yes, it makes me feel like I never left England." Wes said sarcastically.

"Boy, this just keeps getting funner and funner." Gunn said.

"I'm glad to see that you're enjoying yourself," Angel held out a flashlight to Gunn, "because somebody's got to go down in the basement and shut off the power."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no..."

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes." Buffy said. "Angel and I will go with you."

"We will?" Angel asked. Buffy gave him a look. "We will." Buffy and Angel followed Gunn down into the basement, while Cordy, Groo, Liam, and Delai remained on the steps. There was a little squeaking noise and Gunn spun around as Angel stabbed his sword into the junk littering the floor.

"Rat." Buffy said.

"Oh. Rat." Gunn said. Gunn continued on.

"Everything okay down there?" Cordy called. Gunn opened the cabinet holding the main disconnect.

"Oh, yeah. It's a party. Here is the icing on the cake." He pulled down the lever and all the lights around the Hyperion went out. Wes looked up from the book he was working on and pulled the lit lantern a little closer to him. He slowly pulled off his glasses as a small wet, squishy sound warned him that he wasn't alone. He turned slowly in his chair and let out a gasp as one of the creatures jumped onto his face, forcing its way into his mouth and slithering down his throat.

…

The others walked down a deserted hallway. Buffy and Angel didn't want to take a chance so they asked for Lorne and Fred to come with Connor to keep a sharper eye on him.

"Uh, where are we?" Lorne asked.

"South wing. We haven't found a use for it yet, so we just keep it closed up." Angel replied.

"Did you hear something?" Buffy asked.

"Sorry, Blondie, all I'm picking up is the loud, erratic thumping of the heart in my mouth." Lorne said.

"No, it sounds like... It almost sounds like..."

"Birds." Angel and Liam filled in. They came up to a set of double doors chained shut and padlocked.

"Do you even have a key for this?" Cordy asked. Liam and Angel looked at each other then turning to the doors, kicked them off their hinges.

"That works." Delia said.

…

Wes was sitting hunched up in his chair behind the desk. There is a knock on the door.

"Wes, it's me. Open up." Gunn called. Wes got up and let him in, then went back to sit in his chair, without looking at Gunn. "Sorry it took me so long to get back. I took a quick look around to make sure no slimies were lurking. We're good." He noticed Wes hunched up on the desk. "How're you holding up? You're okay?"

"Worried. Very worried." Wes replied.

"Look Wes, I'm speaking for everyone here when I say that I don't entirely trust you right now. But I do trust you to find out anything you can on them. If anybody can look up stuff about demon slugs, it's you." Gunn sat down across from him.

"You have to get out of here."

"What are you talking about?" Wes stared at a snow globe in his hands. "Wes, you ok?" Gunn trailed off as Wesley broke the glass globe and started to gulp down the water inside it. "Wes? Oh, god."

"We're thirsty."

…

The others made their way across the dark ballroom, overturning tables as they went.

"Ugh! Where is that sound coming from?" Cordy asked.

"Somewhere in this room definitely." Angel said.

"Oh, man! This space is one part 'hum' and two parts 'dinger!' Ever think of turning it into a nightclub?" Angel turned to look at Lorne. "Eh, I'm missing the life. Sue me." Lorne said.

A door opened and Gunn hurried in with Wes, who was gulping down water from a bottle.

"Gunn!" Buffy said.

"We have a serious problem." Gunn said, ushering Wes to the group.

"Oh, no! Wesley!" Fred said.

"We got to get him help and we got to get it fast."

"Wes, can you hear me?" Liam asked.

"It's no good. That thing is jamming his brain. I can't reach him." Gunn informed.

"Angel?" Wes gasped.

"Wes." Angel answered.

"I feel it. It needs... It's thirst..." He picked up the water bottle. "Oh, god, I'm so thirsty."

"Hang on, Uncle Wesley. We're gonna get you to a hospital." Liam said.

"No, Liam! We... No. It, it wants that. To, to escape, spread. You, you can't let it. Don't let us, it! It will kill." Wes looked at Liam and Delia. "They really don't like you guys."

"The feeling's mutual." Delia and Liam said together.

"That's it. Come on." Gunn said as he helped Wes to his feet.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked.

"Getting him out of here."

"After what he said?" Buffy asked.

"I don't give a damn what he said. For all I know it's that thing inside him calling the shots."

"Hey! You can't do this." Liam said, stepping in front of Gunn.

"Get out of my way, Liam."

"Think about this. How is he gonna feel if taking him out of here causes more people to die?"

"He? Or you?"

"Me?"

"All this is happening because of you, what you and Delia did. This is your fault. Messing with scary-ass mojo no sane people should be messing with."

"We did what we had to do." Liam said.

"You did what you wanted to get what you wanted. The hell with the consequences."

"It was for my brother."

"And your brother would have been alive either way."

"I wanted to save him from the childhood he had. I wanted to give him one. With my parents."

"Charles, please." Fred pleaded. "Both of you stop fighting.

"We have to stick together." Cordy said.

"Yeah? Where does it say that?" Gunn asked.

"Here! The sounds, they come from under." Groo said, trying to break the tension a little. Groo started to hack at the floor as the others congregated around him and the hole he was creating. Angel started to help him widen the hole using his sword. They all leaned over the hole and saw a hundred of those slug-like things swimming in the water below the floor.

"Oh my god. We have a pool?" Cordy asked.

"You didn't know?" Liam and Delia asked. Cordy starred at the two. Some of the things jumped up out of the hole onto the floor and everyone backed away from it.

"Run! Move!" Angel and Buffy yelled. They hurried down a short hall and through another set of doors into the hotel kitchen. Buffy and Angel slammed the doors shut just as some of the creatures launched themselves at the glass windows in the doors. The others opened another set off doors only to find the floor outside littered with more of the creatures.

"They're all over." Cordy called. More of the things splatted themselves against the windows in those doors as Lorne locked them shut in their faces. Connor started crying. Fred tried to calm him down.

"No more running! Too hot. Too hot." Wesley said.

"Turn on the ovens!" Angel called.

"What, we're gonna cook them?" Buffy asked.

"Cook the air, dry it out. Make it so uncomfortable for them, they won't want in."

"Good thinking." Liam commented. Wesley screamed as gas flames leaped up from all of the burners.

"Now that's what I call uncomfortable." Lorne said.

"What the hell we gonna do?" Delia asked.

"They all seem to want me." Liam said thinking. "So maybe I could lead them some place and have you all ambush them somehow. Maybe use fire."

"Use yourself as bait?"

"Got a better idea?"

"Any idea that's not that." Delia said sounding rather angry.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing that isn't really out of the ordinary."

"Guys, enough." Buffy said. "We gotta find a way to help Wesley and take these things out." Wesley sat in the kitchen between Lorne and Cordy, guzzling water. "Angel, there are too many to fight our way out." Buffy said, holding tightly to Angel's hand.

"I know." Angel said as they walked over to Wesley. Angel looked at Wesley then took the water bottle away from him.

"No! Need water!" Wesley yelled.

"Angel!" Cordy said.

"Go easy!" Lorne interjected. Angel pushed Wesley up against a pillar, and held the water out of his reach.

"I want to talk to that thing inside of you now. I wanna know what you are."

"We're thirsty." Wes/slug thing said.

"Work with me, Wes. Make it answer me. What do you want here?"

"To live. To live. To drink," He let out a gasping laugh, "and be merry." The pipes overhead started to rattle.

"It sounds more like they want in." Buffy said. Angel held the water further away.

"No. I need more."

"I need more. Tell me where you come from." Angel said as he started to pour the water on the floor and Wesley started to screech and punch at him.

"Wes!"

"Oh, god. Help me!" Wesley gasped as cracks appeared on his face. Liam pulled Wesley away from Angel and sat him down. He grabbed the water bottle from is hands. Wesley grabbed the bottle and began to drink. Liam pulled the bottle.

"Wes, come on. Stay with me." Liam said. "Look, I'll give you th bottle if you tell me what you knw about these things.

"Thirsty." Wes said

"Got that. What else?"

"Must drink."

"Come on Wes, think. Use that head of yours. Did you find out anything about them? What are their weakness?"

"They want….only water." Wes gasped.

"Doesn't help."

"They want…. 'only' water." Wesley stressed. Liam was confused at first, but then understood what Wesley was saying.

"Wes, you are genius." He handed Wes th bottle of water and Wesley immediately went to drinking. "Lorne, Gunn, take him. Groo, shut off the ovens, Cordy, the stoves."

"Liam, why?!" Cordy asked.

"Hurry! You and the others get Wes to the office." They shut off the stoves while Liam opened the tap of every faucet in the place, letting water pour out.

"The office?" Delia asked.

"They want to drink. So let's give 'em a drink. There's a bottle of whiskey in the bottom left drawer of the desk. Have Wes drink it."

"This really isn't a time for a happy hour." Gunn said.

"Gunn just go. Fred go with them. Protect Connor. Delia, you too."

"I'm not leaving you." Delai said sternly.

"Fine. Everyone else, go."

"We're staying too." Angel said.

"We're not leaving you to die again." Buffy said.

"Fine. Everyone else just go."

"We're surrounded! How are we to get past?" Groo asked.

"We'll keep them occupied. Slow 'em down." Angel said looking to Buffy.

"How do you expect to do that?" Cordy asked.

"By giving them what they want." The sinks started to overflow. "Groo, damsel in distress. You know what to do."

"Angel!"

"Save Wesley. Please!" Groo helped Gunn pick up Wesley and Cordy lighted the way for them, Fred, and Lorne towards the doors.

"Now!" Liam cried. Buffy and Angel kicked the door to the ballroom open and the creatures skittered in. Delia kicked open another door and more creatures skittered in.

Lorne opened the doors at the opposite end of the kitchen and walked out as more creatures skittered past his feet to reach the water in the kitchen. Groo made to follow, but then saw Cordy turning back. He hesitated for a moment. Gunn saw him.

"Come on man." Gunn told him.

"Cordy, I told you to get out of here!" Angel said. Groo watched Cordy join the family in slashing at the creatures around them. He looked down at Wesley, then turned and headed out after Lorne.

Groo and Gunn carried Wesley into the office with Lorne lighting his way.

"Find the booze." Gunn said. Lorne searched the desk and found the whiskey.

"Got it." He said.

"Lay him down." Groo put Wesley down on the sofa. Lorne gave Gunn the bottle. "Hold him down. Do it!" Then to Wesley, "Come here, English. Drink. Drink, drink. Drink." Gunn held the bottle to his lips and Wesley started to gulp it down, only to push it away, gasping for breath.

…

Buffy, Cordy, Angel, Liam and Delia were slashing at the glowworms on the kitchen floor around them.

"Angel! Incoming. Four o'clock." Buffy called. Angel slashed at the creature. Another one flew through the air, landing on Delia's up stretched hand.

"Liam." She called.

…

Gunn was forcing Wesley to drink more booze while Groo and Lorne held him. Fred watched as she cared for the Connor.

"Come on, Wesley, drink." Gunn said. "Come on, man. I need my best friend here." Wesley pulled back and started to choke and cough, finally spitting out the slug. Groo stabbed it before it could skitter more than a few feet. Gunn sat down beside Wesley.

…

Cordy was holding onto a slug, keeping it as far away from her as she could as it flailed at her arm. A bright white light started to illuminate her from the inside.

"Angel..." Cordy started. Buffy, Angel, Liam, and Delia slowly took a step back away from her, staring. "What's happening to me?" Cordy cried.

"Looks like a light show." Delia said.

"Damn, and me without my glasses." Liam said. Cordy slowly lowered the bug in her hand, staring at the family as the glow emanating from her became brighter and brighter. A wind started to howl and the light shot out from Cordy, obliterating everything with its brightness.

…

Lorne, Fred, Gunn, Wesley, and Groo flinched as a pulse of white light washed over them, then the whole place went dark again.

…

Lorne stood in the lobby. He switched out his flashlight as the lights came back on.

"Okay, unless anyone else has something to say, can I be the first to say: what the hell was that?" Buffy, Angel, Liam, Delia, and Cordy came out the basement door behind him.

"Cordelia. That was Cordelia." Buffy said getting Connor from Fred.

"You are truly a goddess." Groo said. Cordy hugged him.

"Well, demoness anyway. Beats horns and a tail."

"Hey! I'm standing right here!" Lorne said.

"Cordy did say she wanted to come to LA and be a star." Liam said.

"And it looks like she's the brightest of them all." Delia said.

"Thank you, thank you. You are al ltoo kind." Cordy said. Angel saw Gunn helping Wesley to lie down on the couch.

"Is he okay?" Angel asked.

"Yeah. Looks like it. How did Liam know that alcohol was the key?"

"Alcohol dehydrates the body, gets the slug out." Wes said in a horsed voice. "I told him."

"Well whatever works." Gunn looked to Liam. "Thank you."

"Just doing my job." Liam said coming over. "So Wes, does this mean you owe me two or are we even?" Wes looked up at Liam with an amused expression.

"We're even." Wes said sounding better.

"Good. And to be honest with you all, that was quite fun."

"Fun? Slug demons coming here and nearly killing Wesley because of you was fun?" Lorne asked.

"A little. Except the part about Wes nearly dying. Can't have that."

"No we can't." Wes said drinking some water.

"What about you Delia?" Liam asked his wife but saw the back of her heading upstairs without a word. Liam followed behind her.

…

Delia walked into her and Liam's room. She closed the door and took a breath as she walked away. Liam entered in after her.

"Delia, what's going on?" Liam asked her sounding concerned.

"Nothing." Delia responded without even turning to him. "You've been asking what's wrong since you woke up. I'm fine."

"Well, you don't seem fine."

"But. I. Am."

"No. You're. Not." Liam walked closer to Delia who still had her back to him. "It seems like you're trying to avoid me. I'm worried."

"Why? It's not like you were worried before."

"What's that supposed to mean? I am constantly worried about everything. Least off all you."

"Great. Just what every wife likes to hear. Her husband doesn't worry about her."

"I worry. Just not a whole lot because I know you can take care of yourself. You're strong."

"Not that strong."

"Yes you are. Delia, if something is wrong, I want to help. Just talk to me. What's the matter?" Delia had enough. She turned to Liam with an angry look.

"You wanna know what's the matter? I'll tell you what's the matter. You died!"

"I didn't die." Liam defender himself. It didn't seem to help.

"But you almost did." Delia shot back. "You were ready to die Liam. You knew that it was a big possibility that something might go wrong and you still happily went ahead with your idiotic plan."

"I didn't have a choice Delia and you know that."

"I. Don't. Care... I don't care. I just know that I can't go through it again, I won't go through it again."

"Delia." Liam reached to stroke Delia's cheek but she smack his hand away.

"Don't Delia me. I….I have lost everyone I ever cared about. I haven't seen my family in years. My friends are all dead. For all I know my family's dead. I just….I just can't do that anymore, I am tired of losing those I love."

"And you think I don't? You think I don't know how it feels? Delia, I watched everyone I care about die in front of me. I killed my own sister.

"I know you have lost those you love too, even more so, but you have them now and you might even have them in the future if everything goes as you plan it to." Tears were welding up in Delia's eyes. "But I only have you... My family, my friend, my lover, it's all you. If I lose you I have nothing. I know I am being irrational, I mean I know it very well that if we don't succeed its abandon all hope situation again for the whole entire world. And if there is no world, there will be no you. But I just can't see it that way. Call me crazy but for me if there is no you...then there is no world. I can't fight alone not if you are gone, because there will be no point." Liam starred at his wife, listening to her pleading words. He had no idea of the pain she was feeling. "I can sacrifice myself a thousand times with a smile on my face, but I can't watch you do the same. Call me weak and selfish but I will happily watch the world burn if it's the only way to have you by my side Liam. I am sorry if that makes me a weak spot in your big cause and a hindrance for the greater good. But that's just how it is." Liam kept starring at her, not saying a word. They stood in silence for several seconds before Delia brushed past him on her way to the door. "I'm gonna go and cook some soup." She told him and left. Liam slowly turned and looked to wear Delia just left. Liam scoffed and shook his head. He then started to pace.

"She doesn't get it." He said to himself. "She just doesn't get it. It's hard doing what we do but it all goes towards saving the future."

"You use to think like her." Came a voice that startled Liam. He turned to the source and withdrew his tomahawk, then lowered it at the sight of his sister in front of him, clad in white and glowing. "And you're using my weapons." Kathy told him.

"Of all the days you were willing to visit, you pick now." Liam told her.

"Hey, I only show up when you're in trouble."

"I'm not in trouble."

"Then why am I here?" Kathy retorted. Liam didn't have an answer. He put his tomahawk away and resumed pacing. Kathy sat on the bed. "Care to share?"

"Well you saw what just happened. Delia's throwing some sorta fit, all because I sacrificed my life for Connor. And she thinks I'm the bad guy."

"In a way, you are." Liam stopped his pacing and glared at his sister.

"Do I have to resurrect you just to kill you again?"

"Liam, listen. Delia knows that you have to do a lot to save our family. She's just worried that you'll die in the process."

"So what? I never truly cared for my life anyway."

"Not until you met Delia." Kathy countered. Liam glared again. "Liam, whether you like it or not, this is love. Probably another incarnation of mom and dad's love, but its love. You both are warriors of the people and you both love each other to death."

"I love her." Liam said. "I love her more than anything, but this is my family. I came back to save them."

"And you did. Even though you weren't supposed to."

"I know that Kat. I wasn't supposed to come back and save Connor. But you of all people should know the situation. It's either all of my family, or none of them. There is no choosing between family."

"And I understand that. I had the same view."

"Then what is your purpose here?" Liam asked impatiently.

"To show you that you are in that very situation that you don't want to be in. You have a choice between mom and the past, or Delia and the future."

"I'm not choosing between one or the other. I'm choosing both. I'm saving everything. Kathy, I have the fantastic opportunity to stop so much shit. I can prevent dad from taking over Wolfram and Hart. I can stop Twilight, The Loss of Magic, Dawn's near death experience, Xander's betrayal, Grandpa's death and resurrection as a twelve year old."

"That was funny." Kathy snickered. Liam gave her a look. Her smile faded.

"I can stop a lot from happening."

"Was it what the Powers wanted?"

"The Powers want mom and dad back. So I help them stop a series of events from happening along the way. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that you are starting to change things for your own benefit."

"And why not? I've had so much shit happened to me in my life it isn't funny. Our whole lives have been nothing but one big crap storm after the next. Why can't I let us have a little bit of happiness?"

"You can." Kathy said getting up. "I had a chat with the Powers before I came her and they were willing to let you go ahead with your plans. But I'm here to tell you something that may just make you reconsider everything you're planning."

"And what's that?" Liam asked crossing his arms and giving Kathy a steely glare.

"Delia." Kathy answered.

"Delia?"

"Yes. She doesn't want you sacrificing yourself every minute of every day."

"Ok, that only happened twice. Once I didn't plan on, and two, how else was I supposed to get Connor's enemies in all one place?"

"Lure them another way then what you did. But what I am telling you is that Delia loves you. She wants to be with you. She wants that dream of yours. But how is she going to get it if you keep sacrificing yourself?" Liam didn't answer. He just stood right in front of his sister, arms crossed. "I'm not telling you to stop what you're doing. You need to push on and save the future. Delia understands everything you're doing here. The question is, do you understand what she is saying?"

"And what exactly is she saying?"

"She. Wants. You. She loves you. She wants you to stay alive for her." Kathy walked just a little bit closer to her brother. "Who would you choose? Mom and the family in our time? Or Delia?"

"Don't put me in that situation."

"You're already in it. You put yourself there."

"How?"

"Remember how you two met?" Liam nodded.

"Yeah, I was walking down a street in LA. I was angry. We bumped into each other, yelled at each other, and that's how we met."

"And why were you angry?"

"Because dad died and we couldn't get the bitch that did it."

"And what would happen if dad lived and you weren't angry then?" Liam was about to counter when what Kathy was trying to tell him sunk in. "Exactly." Kathy turned and started walking while talking. "If dad lives, you won't get angry and bump into her. Even if you do join the Slayer Organization, Delia would be lower than you would be. You'd probably never meet." Kathy heard a thump and turned to see her brother on his knees, slumped on the ground. Liam had a face of shock and horror. He had been so careless. He was so busy trying to save his past family, he didn't even stop to think what would happen to his current or future family. He loved Delia, and now here was a chance for all of that to just disappear. Tears started forming in his eyes.

"No." Liam shook his head. "No. That's impossible."

"No. It's possible." Kathy said.

"I can't lose her." Liam cried. "She is the only thing I have left."

"You were going to have our family back. Me included."

"I don't…I don't…really care." Kathy starred at her brother for what he just said. "Kathy, I can live with what happened to me. I can live with my past and your death. But I can't live without Delia."

"Well, you are on your way to making that happen."

"Then I'll fix it." Liam said through gritted teeth. "I'm not losing her."

"And you won't." Kathy crouched down to look at Liam. "I can help."

"How?"

"Not important. What is important is that if you truly want Delia, if you want her in your life in the new future, you need to tell her. You need to stop sacrificing yourself all the time."

"Done. I'm tired of waking up in coma's anyway." Kathy gave Liam a look. "You know what I mean. It's done. Connor's safe. Mom and dad are alive. I'm done with this mission."

"Good. Tell Delia that and save the future."

"I will." Liam nodded while crying. "I will."

"Good." Kathy smiled and hugged her brother. He hugged her back. "I can't believe that I still have to teach you how to be a boyfriend." Liam laughed at her statement.

"Hey, you came to me on how to be a girlfriend." He said back.

"Ok, fair enough." Kathy laughed.

…

Delia was busy making a soup in the kitchen of the Hyperion. She had the radio turned on to help calm her down. She was mad at Liam for everything he did. Sacrificing himself without thinking about the consequences of his actions. Noble, yes. But it was still very idiotic of him. Delia wanted to make soup to take her mind off of Liam, but somehow it didn't work all that much. She cut up some onions, which made her tear up a bit. She didn't really know if they were tears from the onions, or tears from being mad about Liam. She didn't really care. She put the chopped onions in the soup and went back to cooking. Her head perked up and she turned around, sensing that someone was in the kitchen with her. She didn't see anyone. She shrugged it off and went back to cooking. She immediately felt a pain in her neck and she put a hand to it. She pulled out a dart from her neck and looked at it. Immediately she felt dizzy and her vision became blurry. She fell to the floor and the pot with the soup in it fell with her. She looked up to the sight of a blurry figure walking over to her. Then she blacked out.

…

Liam walked into the kitchen to talk to Delia.

"Delia." He called to her. He saw that she wasn't there. He also noticed the radio turned on and playing. "Delia? Look I know you're mad but I was hoping we could talk." He looked around the kitchen. "I'm sorry, ok. But I really need to talk to you." Liam turned off the radio and nearly slipped in something wet. He looked down and saw a pot and the contents of the soup poured out onto the floor. At first he was confused, then his senses kicked in and he smelled both Delia's scent and an unfamiliar scent. He looked down at the soup and noticed something amiss. He bent down and picked up a trank dart. He rubbed his fingers against the tip and felt the substance. He put the pieces together very quickly. His eyes grew wide and his heart sank. Buffy came in with Connor to get a bottle of milk.

"Hey, Liam." Buffy greeted him. He gave no response. "Liam?" still nothing. Buffy got the formula and bottle out and put them on the island. "What's up?" Liam slowly turned to her and had a look of anger, horror, and fear all in one. Buffy noticed and then saw the spilled soup and the pot on the floor. She looked back at her son. "Liam?"

After a beat, "They took," he whispered to her. "my wife."

**There you go. Juicy right? T gets juicier. Comment and Review.**


	25. Unfinished Business

Chapter 25: Unfinished Business

**Filled, with angst, suspense, surprises, and a lot of great stuff. Enjoy.**

Liam strode into the lobby with an angry determined look on. He just came from the kitchen where he found his wife's soup spilled and a tranquillizer dart on the floor. There was her scent and an unfamiliar one. His wife was kidnapped and he was not going to stand for it.

Buffy came into the lobby behind him. "They took her? Whose they?" she asked.

"The girl scouts. Delia took their cookies without paying." Liam said sarcastically. "Who do you think 'they' are? Wolfram and Hart." he told her angrily. He had shouted loud enough so that the rest of the team heard him coming in.

"What's going on?" Cordy asked.

"Delia's been kidnapped." Liam told her without breaking stride to the door.

"What? Delia's been kidnapped?" Fred asked.

"Is there an echo in hear?" Liam said angrily.

Angel stood in front of Liam, blocking his way to the door. "Liam, calm down." He told his son.

"Get out of my way dad."

"Not until you tell us what happened and calm down."

"Delia was making soup and she was hit by this." Liam held up the tranquilizer dart. Wesley came up and took it from him, examining it. "She wasn't in the kitchen and there was an unfamiliar scent in the air. Someone else was there and took her. And I bet you anything it was Wolfram and Hart."

"What makes you say that?" Gunn asked.

Liam turned to Gunn. "Who else could it be? Besides us and the Scoobies, Wolfram and Hart are the only ones who know who Delia really is. There is no point in kidnapping her other than that particular reason."

"What do they want with her?" Fred asked.

"They want to know about the future. When I told Lilah about Delia to get her away from Connor, I asked her what was better. A baby born form the slayer and a vampire, or a girl from the future. They want to know about the future and what will happen so that they can manipulate it to their own advantage."

"You used her as bait?" Cordy asked sounding appalled.

"It was the only way to get Wolfram and Hart to back off Connor. Obviously they haven't learned from when Delia kicked their ass. I'm gonna kill them."

"But they won't find out anything right?" Lorne asked. Liam looked at him. "I mean, you guys drink that potion that blocks supernatural forces from entering your mind. And she's a slayer so she won't talk right?"

"They have other means of taking stuff out of people's heads. Literally. After a few days of torture and not getting anything, or hours maybe, they'll use that way to literally get the information out of her head. It may end up killing her. I am not going to let that happen."

"Ok. But you're from the future too. You told them who 'you' were. Why did they go only after Delia instead of you?" Cordy asked.

"They must think that I can still turn into a Van-tal or they know how well adapt I am at magic." Liam looked to his parents. "I tortured Linwood using magic then wiped his memory. He might have gotten it back and realized that they couldn't take me without a fight. So they took the next best thing. My wife."

"Fred and I'll get to work on analyzing the sedative." Wesley said looking at the tranquilizer dart. "Hopefully it will lead us to where it came from."

"We already know where it came from. Wolfram and Hart."

"Or it could be somebody else." Fred said.

"There is no one else." Liam was getting tired of telling them the same thing over and over again. Wolfram and Hart were the only other people alive who knew about Delia and him. They were the only logical option. Buffy put Connor in a bassinet and walked over to Liam to calm him down.

"We'll help you get her back. But you need to calm down." Buffy said.

"Calm down? This is my wife, mom." Liam yelled at her.

"Do not talk to your mother like that." Angel said. Liam glared at his mother.

"I'll find her with or without your help." Liam turned towards the doors. "You can torture me, kill off my family in front of me, but no one touches my wife."

"Liam, where are you going?" Buffy asked.

"To find her."

"Wait. Liam, before you go we should do that thing your father and I do." Cordy said.

Liam turned to face her with a look of confusion. "What thing?"

"That thing we do. You know that thing where I say 'are you sure you know what you're doing, please think about this' and then you ignore me and rush head long into trouble?"

"Right. That thing. - Okay, are we done?"

"Liam, please think about this. In fact, don't go there at all."

"I have to."

"I know. But don't."

"I'm not gonna kill them even though they deserve it."

"No. Stop." Buffy stood between Liam and the doors.

"Move out of the way, mom."

"Not until you calm down and focus." Buffy wasn't going to let her son do anything reckless that could get him hurt or worse. Liam glared at his mother but took a breath and calmed himself. "Ok, now, we are going to help you find Delia. But for that to happen, you need a level head. I can't have you doing anything reckless and putting yourself in danger."

After a beat. "Ok. I'm just gonna….go and….clear my mind." Liam turned away and went upstairs to his room. Buffy sighed. She really want to find Delia too. She was family. Buffy knew exactly what Liam was going through. She remembered when Angel was kidnapped by Spike and Drusilla and tortured. She wanted blood for what they did. And she could see it in Liam. She wanted to help him, but only if he wasn't going to go out and get himself killed. She turned to the rest of the team.

"Ok, let's put our heads together and find Delia." She strode over the reception area. "We're gonna need to find some way to get into Wolfram and Hart, passed all their defenses and get Delia before they know what she knows." Everyone gathered around Buffy except for Cordy who was staring at the stairs where Liam just left the lobby.

"Princess what is it?" Groo asked her.

She turned to the team. "Uh…Buffy? Don't you think it's a little suspicious how Liam just calmed down and did what you asked just like that?"

Buffy looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. The love of your life was just kidnapped and you have the power to move mountains and part seas to get them back. What would you do if it were Angel? Or Connor?" Buffy got was she was saying. This was like Willow and Tara all over again. Only this time, she didn't need to be told twice. She and Angel ran passed everyone and headed upstairs to Liam's room. They opened the door to his empty room. They searched around and found a chest open, the window open, and Liam nowhere in sight.

…

Linwood was at his desk going over different plans on how to get Connor, Liam, or Delia. Ever since Liam told Lilah who they really were, Linwood was on a path to capturing them. He was also on a path of revenge. Thanks to some mystics in Wolfram and Hart, he remembered everything about Liam torturing him with magic. He wanted payback.

Linwood was so busy with looking at different plan and options, he was startled when the lights in his office went out. He looked around the darkened office and stood up. Only to be met by a quick blow to the head, knocking him out.

…

Linwood woke up in a daze. His head hurt and there was a big lump formed from the hit he received. He tried to lift his arm but it was cuffed to something. He looked and saw it cuffed to a track. He looked around and saw that he was lying on a train track and he was definitely cuffed to it.

"Linwood Murrow." A scary growly voice said. Linwood was startled and looked up to see Liam standing over him. Linwood got up on his knees because the cuffs were preventing him from standing fully.

"You. You're him. Buffy and Angel's son from the future." Linwood said. Liam glared at him. "Oh, yeah. I know about you. Lilah told me everything about your little secret when you told her."

"Then you know about Delia."

"Your girlfriend. Yeah, we know about her. She's a slayer. Didn't anticipate on that when Lilah went after her. Like father like son I suppose."

"In more ways than one. Delia is missing. She's been kidnapped. She was sedated by a tranquilizer dart. Now it's time to tell me where you have her being held, or it's time for the 10:15 to the Hellmouth." Linwood heard a sound of something on tracks and felt something coming closer. He looked passed Liam and saw a light coming their way. Fear gripped him immediately. Liam smelled it growing on him and if it was any other situation, he would have smiled. Linwood tried to get out of the cuffs but it was no use.

"Oh, oh, ok, ok. Uh…we know that you two are from the future and we wanted to get one of you to know what you guys knew."

"Not the answer I'm looking for. Where is she?"

"We, we, we haven't sent a team to kidnap her I swear." Linwood looked and saw and felt the train coming closer. Liam stayed perfectly still. "Oh god. Please, please, I...I…I'll do anything. You can have everything we are planning to capture one of you."

"I don't care about the plans. I already read them and know them. I want to know where my wife is." Liam yelled. Linwood didn't say anything. Fear was practically squeezing his insides. He looked at the oncoming train as it approached fast. It would be on them very soon.

"I don't know." Linwood said frantically. "But if you let me go, we can work something out." Liam didn't want to work anything out. He wanted his wife. And he wasn't in the mood for bargaining. He started to walk passed Linwood to leave him to be squished by the oncoming train that was very near. "Wait, wait, don't go." Linwood begged. Liam continued to walk away. "Wait, wait, wait! Lilah. And Gavin. They are always trying to outdo each other. One of them might have sent a team under their orders to kidnap your wife without my knowledge. That's all I can tell you!" Linwood looked back at the oncoming train that was just yards from where he was chained up. "Get me out of here!" Linwood looked back at the train that was just now several feet away. Linwood screamed and felt the chains on his cuffs break from a gunshot. He quickly rolled out of the way, continuing to scream as the train went by. Liam watched as the train went by with a stern look. This didn't get him anywhere near to finding his wife. But at least he had two more leads.

…

Gavin was in his office drinking some coffee and looking over some paper work. He sat very casual in his chair. He didn't to be worried about anything. He received a report about the slug infestation at the Hyperion and believed that the slugs would possibly kill all of Angel's team and their son from the future.

Suddenly the lights went out. Gavin looked up and looked around his darkened office. He stood up and went to the light switch. He flicked it a number of times but the lights didn't come on. He sighed and went to the door to call for maintenance. As he opened the door, he was hit hard in the face and knocked unconscious.

…

Gavin woke up saw everything upside down.. He was swinging from side to side. He realized that he was dangling upside down. He saw a dark figure before him. As his vision came into focus, he realize that he was looking at Angel. Or what he thought was Angel. It was actually Liam. He looked down and saw the streets of LA several stories below. He was dangling upside down on top of a tall building.

"Gavin Park." Liam said menacingly.

"Who are you?" Gavin asked.

"Someone who you pissed off." Liam replied. He took out his new pistol that he bought before arriving at Linwood's office and shot at Gavin's ropes that were tied to a beam above him. Gavin whimpered in fear. Liam missed on purpose. He wanted to get Gavin scarred enough to talk. "Tell me where my wife is." He demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Gavin whimpered. Once again, Liam smelled fear on his victim. He was actually growing accustom to it. People say that they want to put the fear of God into people. He wanted to put the fear of another in Gavin.

"My wife. Delia. She's been kidnapped. She's from the future. I told Lilah. You compete with her. Don't tell me that you didn't know because I know you do."

"I don't know where she is." Gavin said again. He kept swinging from side to side. Blood was rushing to his brain, making him feel so dizzy. "I know that she is from the future like you. But if she's missing, I had nothing to do with it. I swear to God!"

"Swear to me!" Liam yelled and shot his pistol, this time up towards the beam that Gavin's roped were tide to. Gavin whimpered as the bullet narrowly missed the rope. "You're running out of time. And my aim is getting better. You have ten seconds to tell me something I believe or you will be made street pizza."

"I don't know anything. I was…I was planning on ways to get the child from Angel and the slayer. We wanted to know it came into this world and everything. I wasn't so focused on you and your wife from the future. That was always Lilah's focus." Liam glared at Gavin. Gavin was definitely telling the truth. Liam sensed it. When fear grips a man, the man will do anything to be released. Liam raised his pistol up and pointed it at Gavin. "No, no, no. I told you everything." Gavin raised his hands to cover his face and closed his eyes. He continued to swing upside down. He opened his eyes and looked to where Liam was. Liam wasn't there anymore. Gavin looked around while swing for any sign of anyone. There wasn't any.

…

Lilah was in her office talking to two other men about a plan for capturing Liam. She wanted someone from the future so that the firm could know all about the future and either be prepared for it, or change it in their favor.

"I'll need all that the psychics and fortune tellers can get about Liam and his girlfriend ASAP. We're on something of a clock here." Lilah told them. They nodded to her. Suddenly the window of her office broke and a figure emerged through it with an axe with a knife at the end. The figured rolled on the ground and straightened up. The two men Lilah was talking to stood up and immediately ran for the door. Lilah stood up and looked to the intruder. It was Liam. Liam extended his weapon into the makeshift scythe his sister made. Four security guards entered into the room. Liam punched the first one, swung the scythe, and hooked it around the foot of the second guard, tripping him and sending him to the ground. Liam spun and embedded the axe head into the third guard's chest, then swung and embedded spike part of the head into the fourth guard's chest. He took it out and delivered a clean uppercut swing on the first guard, slicing his face. With his weapon already in the air, Liam twirled the scythe in hand before stabbing the second guard that he tripped, who was still on the ground, in the chest. Liam pulled out his pistol and shot at the desk lamp that was main source of the light in the room. Liam rounded on Lilah. Lilah tried backing up but the wall prevented her from moving. She was trapped. Fear gripped Lilah as she looked into the eyes of her intruder and only saw hate and rage fill them.

"Lilah Morgan." Liam growled and pointed the knife part of his weapon at her. He walked closer to her. Lilah tried going for her desk phone, but Liam shot at it, preventing her from calling anyone. "Stand still!" Liam stopped short of her desk but the weapon he had was long enough to be so close to Lilah that all he had to do was jab and he could kill Lilah with it.

"Ok, ok. I'm standing still. Now, what do you want?"

"My wife, Delia. She's been kidnapped. You are the only one left who knew who she was. I wanna know where she is."

"What?" Lilah asked sounding confused.

"Is Delia still alive!?" Liam yelled. He had no luck with the past two people he interrogated. He was hoping for some now. One way or another, he was going to find his wife, and he didn't care who he hurt.

"I don't know anything about your girlfriend's disappearance. We…we didn't go after her…after she got away last time. We realized that she was a slayer. We've been trying to uncover why you two were back in the first place." Lilah answered fearfully. This was a side of Liam she never truly seen before. If it was, it was a side of Angel she never seen before. Lilah was completely scarred. Liam had a murderous look on and she didn't know if it would end with her. Liam gripped both of his weapons tight. He wanted more than anything to kill Lilah at this very moment. But if she knew something about Delia, Liam was willing to let her live. For now.

Liam moved just a bit closer and the tip of the knife end of Liam's makeshift scythe touched Lilah's blouse. "How come I don't believe you?"

"Ok, ok. If she's been kidnapped, that must mean that it was done by somebody that knows who she is."

Liam inched even closer. The tip of his knife was pushing into Lilah blouse, aimed at her heart. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Maybe it's possible that someone from the scene where you told us has her. We weren't the only ones there."

"The rest are dead." Liam yelled to her.

"That's all I know. We don't have her. Please, please don't kill me." Lilah begged. Liam looked into her eyes and saw the same thing he saw in Linwood's and in Gavin's. Not just fear, but also truth. When one is about to die, or thinks that they are about to die, they would tell anyone anything to live. Especially if they were weak and cowardly like Lilah. But it didn't get Liam anywhere. No one seemed to know where his wife was.

"Tell your bosses, if anyone of my family is hurt in anyway by you, I will come after you. I will come after all of Wolfram and Hart and will kill every last member and burn this place to the ground, while roasting the severed heads of its staff in its flames. My family is off limits. Are we clear?" Lilah nodded fearfully. Liam flipped the scythe in hand around so that the axe head was facing Lilah. He spun around and hit Lilah across the face with the flat end of the blade. She fell to floor. She felt her head where the scythe hit her and felt a large cut run across her temple. She stood up and looked around her office. Liam wasn't there anymore.

…

Groo walked into the lobby carrying a tray decorated with greens and two glass-mugs on it.

"Hi. What you got there?" Cordy asked.

Groo set the tray down. "Well, I know you had grave concern for Liam and Delia's welfare, so I made some Mock-Na."

"Oh. Mock-Na. Which is..?"

"A soothing brew to relieve tension."

"Ah. Kind of looks like muddy water."

"Yes!" Groo picked up a mug and smelled it. "The mud gives it body and flavor. Of course there is no Plockweed in this dimension, so I made due with creeping fig and sour cress in the garden. Though it is not true Mock- Na, it is very close to the real thing."

Cordy smiled brightly. "So it's mock Mock-Na."

Groo offered her a mug. "Please."

Cordy took it with a smile and took a tiny sip. "Well, that's, ah... I mean, I can feel the tension draining already." She handed the mug back to Groo. "And a little sediment going down the wrong..." Cordy coughed a little then smiled at him brightly. "Hmm, tasty."

"And might I further relieve you by at first gently then more rapidly rubbing your Schlug-Tee?""

Cordy looked at the grin on his face. "Ah, I don't really... um. Maybe later at home." She saw Groo's smile melt away and stepped up close to him. Cordy whispered, "I don't feel comfortable doing it in the office, Groo."

"Doing 'it?'"

"Sex."

"Oh, you wish to have sex?"

Cordy threw a quick look around. "What? No! Shh!"

"I was proposing a massage of your Schlug-Tee, your tense neck muscle, but it is always an honor to make sex with you." He smiled then leaned closer and whispered, "Later, at home. I understand perfectly."

Cordy stared straight ahead. "Liam."

Groo pulled back with a sigh. "Is not who I am, princess."

"I know. He's back." Cordy walked past Groo out into the lobby where Liam entered the lobby with a scowl on his face. He went to the only people at Wolfram and Hart he knew would have anything to do with him, his wife, and Angel's team. He went to the only people who could possibly have kidnapped his wife, but got nothing. It was apparent that Wolfram and Hart had nothing to do with it. This did not make Liam feel any better. As he walked into the lobby, the rest of the team was huddled around the reception area. They looked up a Liam entered. Liam's parents were the first ones to move towards him.

"Liam, are you ok?" he mother asked.

"Fine." Liam said without breaking stride to the reception area.

"Where did you go?" his father asked.

"Wolfram and Hart. Had a chat with Lilah, Gavin, and Linwood."

"Did they kidnap Delia?" Cordy asked. Liam stopped at the reception area and stared at the pieces of paper in front of him. He placed his hands on the counter and leaned on it.

"No. They didn't know anything."

"How can you be sure of that?" Gunn asked. "I mean they could have lied to you."

"They didn't. When people are inches away from death, they will spill their guts literally if it meant they could live." Liam was spun around by his father and starred into his eyes. Angel had a look of worry and fear in them. He looked at his son, hoping that what Liam will say next won't be something he would regret.

"Liam, what did you do?" Angel asked pleading.

After a beat. "Let's just say that right now, Linwood has a fear of trains, Gavin a fear of heights, and Lilah….well, she's scared of me."

"Liam how could you…" he mother began.

Liam cut her off. "This is my wife here!" Liam pushed his father off of him. "Anyone that could be involved is not treated any different from the rest. I warned them that you guys were off limits."

"Ok. Is anyone else getting a sense of déjà vu here?" Cordy asked.

"Particularly." Wesley said getting up and walking around the counter towards Liam. "Liam, you are acting just like Angel when he was obsessed over Darla. What you are doing is…"

"It's wrong." Gunn finished for him.

"Sorry to be a downer on your little crusade here AJ, but I have to agree with everyone here." Lorne said. "Going over to Wolfram and Hart to get answers is one thing."

"But going and threatening to let trains run over people is…" Fred said. "It's…"

"Angelus." Angel said. Liam whirled around and glared at his father.

"I am NOT Angelus." Liam yelled. Connor began to fuss and Buffy went over to calm him. "You would have done the same if it was someone you loved. Any of you." Liam directed to the rest of the group. "This is Delia."

"We understand that." Cordy said.

"But you are being a bit….reckless." Fred said in the most sincere way possible, not wanting Liam to rip her head off.

Groo came over to Liam. "Liam, I feel your pain. If this was my princess I would have done the same that you've done."

"Thanks Groo." Liam said. Although he wondered why he said anything.

"But you should listen to your friends. They know what is best for you." Liam walked away from Groo and leaned on the counter again.

"I need to find my wife." Liam slammed his hands hard on the counter. "Fuck!"

Buffy held her hands over Connor's ears.

…

Delia was coming to. She had a major headache. One minute she was making soup, the next she was blacking out and waking up some place she didn't know. She opened her eyes but saw black. There was a bag over her head.

"Hey, she's coming around." She heard a voice say. Immediately the bag was taken off of her head. She let her eyes adjust to the light. She was in a small room and was zip cuffed to a wooden chair. A single lamp hanging from the ceiling lit up the room. She looked around and saw about four men, all of whom had sword's and axes on them. At least one of them had a gun on him. She looked to the person who took the bag off. It was a woman with red hair and had a scowl on her face. She remembered this woman from the night she and Liam went to stop Sahjhan. It was Justine.

"Glad to see you alive." Justine said. "For now." She held up an electric tazer in front of Delia's face. "Now you're going to tell all about you and your demon spawn of a boyfriend. Every detail. You are going to tell me everything about who you are, why you're here, and why you killed Holtz." Delia didn't say anything. She just glared at Justine. "I ask the questions, you give me the answers. Why did you kill Holtz?" Again Delia didn't say anything. She felt the zip cuffs on her wrists and clenched her fists. Justine looked to the rest of her gang and then tazed Delia. Delia screamed in pain from the shock. Justine stopped shocking her and let Delia catch her breathe. "I wanna know about you and that bastard demon spawn. I want to know everything. Tell me, what your plan are?" Delia refused to say anything. This was nothing compared to some of the torture she underwent to gain information in the future. She knew that Liam and the AI team would eventually come looking for her and will eventually find her. Delia didn't have to hold out. She just needed to hold out long enough. Justine shocked Delia yet again. Delia grunted and gritted her teeth to the pain. After Justine stopped, Delia took a moment to catch her breath. She needed to escape. Luckily, these guys didn't know who she was. What she was.

"Ok, ok. Liam approached me." Delia finally said.

"And?"

"He said that he needed me to help him for some mission that could save lives."

"What did he tell you?" Delia took a breath and calmed herself, ready for the coming fight.

She lifted her head and looked into Justine's eyes with a piercing look. "He told me I'm gonna kill you." It was mostly the truth. Delia knew all about how Justine ruined Liam's family lives. And she knew that Liam would want to kill Justine for it. But even so, Delia would be the one to kill her for Liam. Justine looked upon Delia and laughed at her. She looked to the rest of her gang and they too laughed.

"I think that trank did more to your head then knock you out. You're zip cuffed tied to that chair." Justin said. Delia gave a smirk and brought her hands out from behind the chair, showing them to Justine. While Delia was stalling with her talking to Justine, she got her hands free from the zip cuffs.

"Not anymore." Justine eyes grew wide with surprise. As did the rest of her crew. Justine tried to punch Delia, but she was too fast for her. She ducked the blow and grabbed the wooden chair, flipping it between her legs and using it as a shield for the next punch. Justine punched right through the chair, breaking parts of it. Perfect for Delia. Two guys came after Delia. Delia used the chair that Justine had her hand through and moved Justine out of the way, grabbing a broken piece of it and using it as a makeshift stake to stake the first man in the chest and staking the second up through his mouth and into his head. A third man came after her and Delia sucked the swing from the axe. He swung again and Delia caught the axe, singing the man around and using him as a human shield as the fourth man shot at her with his gun. He killed his friend. Delia dropped the body and threw the axe at the fourth man, getting him in the chest. He dropped dead. Delia was distracted by the fourth man, she didn't see Justine come up behind her and knock her unconscious again with a lead pipe. Justine looked upon Delia with disgust.

"So you're a slayer like his demon whore mother." Justine looked at Delia's unconscious body. "Interesting."

…

Fred was looking through a microscope at the reception area. "Ok, I think I got something." She said. Everyone came over to her. "I believe I've managed to analyze the sedative."

"What's the whole point?" Liam said impatiently.

"Well when you hear what I've found, you might find point."

"What is it?" Buffy asked.

"Pentobarbitone."

"Fred, I barely know what I mitochondria is alright." Liam said. "English."

"It's a type of sedative used primarily in hospitals." Wesley said. "Used in induction of general anesthesia."

"How does this help?"

"Wolfram and Hart uses the latest in everything. Weapons, technology…" Wes held up the tranquilizer dart. "And most likely, sedatives. This common sedative can be picked up at any hospital."

"So it means that the person who kidnapped Delia wasn't all that of a pro." Angel surmised.

"Someone that isn't all high and mighty like Wolfram and Hart." Gunn added.

"I don't buy it." Liam said pacing.

"Why not?" Cordy asked. "This means that some low lives have her instead. Oh – wait. That might be worse."

Liam stop his pacing. "No one else but Wolfram and Hart could have Delia."

"Why is that?" Lorne asked.

"Because they are the only one's besides us who know who Delia really is."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe this isn't about who Delia really is?" Gunn said. "You threatened Lilah, Gavin, and Linwood and they told you they didn't know anything."

"Then maybe it's some else at the firm." Liam began to walk to the doors again. Buffy stood right in front of him.

"You are not going out again."

"I have to find her." He told her.

"I get that. But you need our help if you are going to find her. And going off and scaring people half to death isn't going to work." Liam glared at his mother. If it was anyone else, he would have shoved them away. But he didn't think he could do that to his own mother. He took a breath and calmed himself, for all the good it would do him. "Ok, now why do you believe that Wolfram and Hart are the only ones who could kidnap Delia?"

"Because they are the only ones who know who she really is." Liam said for the umpteenth time through gritted teeth.

"Are you sure that they are the only ones?" Angel asked.

"Yes, I am sure." Liam said turning to his father.

"And you didn't tell anyone else?" Cordy asked.

"Yes." Liam said louder. "No one else knows."

"How about you go through yours and Delia time here when she arrived." Lorne suggested. "Tell us who talked to." Liam sighed and started walking around, thinking back to when Delia came to the past.

"Ok, Delia arrived and showed herself to the gang in Sunnydale. Then we came here and told all of you guys."

"Does that mean that one of us is a traitor?" Groo asked looking around suspiciously.

"Groo, honey, No one here is a traitor." Cordy said rubbing his shoulder. She then looked to Wesley. "Right Wes?"

Wesley sighed. "Right. No one among us is a traitor."

"Did you tell anyone else?" Fred asked Liam.

"Since we came to LA, we've been pretty quiet. The only times we really went out was to help on cases. We haven't talked to a whole lot of people other than you guys. The next time we told anyone who we were was when we got Connor back and I killed Sahjhan. I told everyone that was there who we were."

"Who was there? Specifically." Buffy asked.

"You were there."

"Just tell me."

"Well, there was Wolfram and Hart, which we already know about. Sahjhan, but I killed him. Holtz and Justine but you and dad killed them both. So really, there isn't anyone else."

"Well, I don't know about Justine." Buffy said hesitantly. Liam's face went into complete and utter shock. He starred at his mother at what she just said. Justine was still alive and his mother confirmed a dark fear in him.

"What do you mean you don't know about Justine? Did you kill her or not?"

"I knocked her out of the car while I tried to get Connor from Holtz."

"Did you confirm the kill?" Liam asked walking slowly to Buffy.

"I was too preoccupied with getting your brother."

"Dad, did you confirm the kill?"

"I drove past her to get your mother and brother." Angel said.

"So that psychopathic bitch is still out there?" Liam yelled.

"What is the big deal?" Cordy asked. "Who is this Justine girl?"

"Justine was the one that murdered my family." Liam told everyone. Everyone starred at Liam at what he said. "She was the one that killed my mother in cold blood, right in front of me and Kathy. She was the one that killed my father and my brother. She made The Crows. What started out as a small group of fighters bent on killing Angel, Wolfram and Hart bought them out, and declared a proxy war on us. After Dad and Connor died, they killed Justine to gain complete control over the Crows and made them an army. It's all because of Justine that my future is hell." Liam turned to his mother with an angry look. "And you let her live."

"Liam… I didn't…" Buffy tried to say with tears in her eyes.

"What? You couldn't pull the goddamn trigger because of your slayer policy?"

"Liam, enough." Angel said. He didn't want his son to vent out all of his anger at Buffy.

"She kidnapped Connor and threatened to raise him to be her own son and to grow up hating you. That isn't enough for you to kill her?"

"Liam…I'm sorry." Buffy said.

"Oh…..g…go…."Liam scrunched up his face and grabbed fistfuls of his hair. Wandering around, trying desperately to not rip off his on mothers head. "DAMMIT MOM!" he yelled at her, making her shed tears. Buffy never wanted to make Liam angry at all. She wanted to give him everything he deserved. Everything he was deprived of as a child. Now she let someone evil kidnap the one person that made him happy in the future after her and Angel's deaths. Liam was hyperventilating at this point. He wife was in the hands of a psychopath who could do anything to her. "I didn't want to kill Justine out of vengeance. That's why I had you and dad go after her. With you, it's justice because you are reclaiming your son. You wouldn't have lost part of you because of it. I would have." Buffy was crying now. She could see it in Liam's eyes. He hated her for what she didn't do. "I'm going to find her. I'm going to go find Justine and kill her because apparently you can't do what's necessary." He started to head for the doors.

"Liam, wait." His father said.

Liam turned to face everyone. "This isn't up for discussion. I'm going to go find my wife. You can either come with me or not. But don't try to stop me. If you do, I will kill you."

"I'm coming with you." Buffy said. Liam looked to her and saw that she was still crying but she now had a look of determination on her face. "Delia, is my family. And nothing is more important than my family." Liam nodded to her and looked to everyone else.

"What about the rest?"

"I'll come to." Wesley said. "I owe Justine for slashing my throat."

"If she really is the reason the future's screwed, I'm coming too." Gunn said standing.

"Groo and I are with you." Cordy said stepping forward with Groo.

"Yes. This woman is evil and must be slain for good." Groo said.

"You can count me in." Angel said standing next to his wife. "No son of mine is going to lose his love."

"Fred, Lorne, stay here and protect Connor." Buffy said.

"No." Liam said. Everyone looked confused.

"Liam, Connor is still in danger."

"Which is why he needs to be protected by our strongest people. Dad and everyone else will stay and protect Connor. Buffy, Wes, you two are with me. And no back talk from anyone." No one said a word. Liam turned and went out the doors with Wesley and Buffy behind him.

…

Water was splashed onto Justine to wake her up. She awoke to a splitting head ache. Her head hurt from where Justine hit her. She tried moving but found that her hands were again bound. But this time they were above her, chained. She looked around. She was in the same place that she was imprisoned before. Justine walked into the room and stopped just a few feet from Delia.

"You are quite a fighter." She told her. "You took out four of my best men all by yourself."

"Guess I'm just that good."

"Not good enough. I know that you are a slayer like that demon whore. And I also found out that you're one too. Bedding her evil spawn. How can anyone willingly bed with a demon?"

"Liam isn't evil. If anything, he is as good as anyone can be. He is willing to sacrifice his life for everyone."

"He may have you believing that. But he is a spawn of a demon. It's in their nature to be evil."

"You're wrong. And you're wrong about thinking that you can hold me." Delia twisted her wrists so that she could grab hold of the chains. She tried to yank on them to break hold of them, but nothing happened. She tried again and again but the chains wouldn't budge. Delia realized just how weak she felt. She didn't have her strength with her.

Justine began to walk around her. "Don't bother wasting what little strength you have. That is you have any left. I read up on the slayer after Holtz told me about the whore."

"Her name is Buffy."

"Whatever. Point is, I read up on them. I also came across an interesting read about a slayers rite of passage." Delia was stunned. She was told stories about how the Watchers Council put Slayers through a rite of passage of sorts. They were deprived of their strength and abilities. Made ordinary girls and forced to face a vampire, using only their wit. "I found the cerium that deprives you of your strength and injected it into you." Justine stopped right in front of Delia. "You have no strength. No way out." Justine pulled out a knife. "And I'm looking for a way to get payback on you for killing my men and killing Holtz. As well as payback on your boyfriend."

"You touch him and I'll kill you."

"With what? Your words. Cause I'll keep injecting you with the cerium if I have to. But I'm gonna kill you, slowly. And when your boyfriend comes looking for you, he'll find you dead in the street. He might come looking for me to beg for death." Delia glared at Justine.

"Liam has lost so much in his life. You murdered his entire family. You sent him to five years living in a hell that no one deserves to be in."

"He and his family deserve it for what they've done."

Delia scoffed. "You are crazy. Buffy hasn't done anything but save this world time after time again. Liam's saved it and literally gave up his life for it. And you want to kill them?"

"They killed Holtz."

"He tried to kidnap an innocent child from his parents."

"One of them is a vampire! He deserves to die! They all deserve to die! The way my sister died." Justine stepped closer to Delia. "And you will join them. But after I make sure the spawn has lost everything he held dear. Like me." She held up the knife to Delia. "You will suffer like me." She took the knife used it to cut open Delia's shirt, exposing her torso. She proceeded to cut several deep lacerations on her torso. Delia screamed out in pain with each stroke.

…

Liam looked through a pair of binoculars at Holtz' hide out. He spotted several guards patrolling the perimeter. He was on a roof top several yards from Holtz's hideout with Buffy and Wesley.

"What does it look like?" Wesley asked.

"Guards patrolling the perimeter." Liam said. "Looks like they've managed to get their hands on some hardware. Assault rifles and sorts. At least six I count. Two guard the entrance. The rest circle the perimeter."

"Too much for ya?" Buffy asked. Liam looked at his mother with a stern look.

"No." He was still angry at Buffy for not killing Justine and letting her kidnap Delia. Buffy couldn't blame him. After everything he went through in his life, Delia was what made him happy. And Buffy let that be taken away from him.

Liam looked back through the binoculars. "I can't get eyes inside. We'll need to take out all the guards. Otherwise they could warn Justine, she'll have Delia killed, and we're cancelled."

"I'm still surprised that Justine still occupies this same place when Holtz was alive." Wesley said.

"Maybe she isn't the market for a new place." Buffy suggested.

"She wants us to come to her." Liam said. He lowered the binoculars. "She wants to set up some sorta trap or something."

"And that's bad."

"We'll be walking into a trap." Wesley said.

"Exactly." Liam said not taking eyes of the hideout.

"So what do we do?" Buffy asked.

"Spring the trap." Liam stood up. "Wes, go back to the car and check our weapons inventory." Wes nodded and left the two alone on the roof top. Liam starred down at the hideout. Buffy shifted her feet. She felt so sorry for Liam and what she had done. She never wanted to put him in this situation.

"Liam…"

Liam cut her off. "I'm sorry." Buffy looked at him. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. This is more of my fault than it is yours. I didn't tell you about Justine when I should have."

Buffy walked closer to him. "I forgive you. I know that you want everything to turn out perfectly so you tell us something's and don't tell us others. You want to make sure everything turns out for the better." She placed a hand on Liam's shoulder.

"It won't be better if Delia isn't there."

"She will be. Once we save her…"

"No. I mean….I realized that what I'm doing will save you and my family. But I may just lose Delia in the process."

"What do you mean?"

Liam turned to look at his mother. "I was never supposed to come back now, mom. I was never supposed to save Connor. I supposed to go back to when you died when I was four. When Connor was in his twenties and technically eight years old and still Darla's son. I was supposed to stop your death then. Not come back and make Connor's yours and dad's and save him from Holtz." Buffy looked at her son and what he was saying.

"Why did you come back then?"

"Because mom, I wanted to save all of my family. Not just chose to save my parents and let my brother have the childhood he had given the opportunity to do both. For me, it's save all of my family, or none of them. I don't choose between family." Buffy took in his words. He never was supposed to save Connor. He was never supposed to bring his parents together the way he did. He was to save them in the future and that was it. Instead he decided to save more of his family. "And it's because of me changing everything the way I did might make Delia and I never meeting."

"What?" Buffy asked sounding surprised.

"Delia and I met in LA, a year after dad and Connor died. We met on the streets as we were walking. I was walking because I was angry that the scoobies couldn't find Justine. They couldn't avenge yours and their deaths. I was pissed that night." He paused and began to chuckled, remembering the night he met Delia like it was yesterday. "I bumped into her and her stuff fell. I yelled at her and she yelled at me. I immediately apologized and that was when we first met. But if dad doesn't die, I won't be angry and I probably won't be on that street when we meet. If that doesn't happen, I don't know when or if I'll ever meet her." A single tear escaped Liam's eye. Buffy placed a hand on Liam's cheek and wiped the tear away. "I can't live without her. I can't do anything if I don't have her. If she dies, if Delia dies, I'm done." He told her. "There will be no me saving the past. There will be no me helping you out with anything. If she dies, I quit. I quit my mission, my life. I quit." Buffy brought her son in for a hug. He cried silently into her shoulder.

"It's ok my son. It's ok." She soothed him. "We will find a way. I'm not going to let my son sacrifice everything to save the future, all for him to lose the love of his life. I will not let that happen." She rubbed his back as he calmed down, listening to her words soothing him. "I will ensure that you two meet. I promise."

Liam laughed. "My mom playing matchmaker for me. Every kid's dream."

Buffy looked at her son smiling. "Only when I know that the person I'm matching him with is the love of his life."

Liam laughed once more and hugged his mother. "I love you mom. I'm so sorry."

"I love you too my son. I forgive you for everything. Now let's go get your wife back." They pulled away and they both put on the same determined look.

"Let's end this."

…

Delia was hanging from the roof of the ceiling. Her hands chained above her. Her face bloody and bruised, drooped to the floor. Her shirt opened and deep cut marks all over her torso. Blood dripped from her wounds onto the floor, creating a small poll of blood.

Justine came to her front, cleaning the knife she used to cut Delia. "You're stronger than I thought. I would think that you would have told me everything about you and this Liam fellow. But you are here now, dangling, bleeding, and still haven't given me anything." She paused, looking at Delia. "I'd actually hoped your boyfriend would have come in and tried to save you. That way he would see you die right in front of him." Justine shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't care about you after all." She thought for a moment, then held up the knife to Delia. "Or maybe I'm not sending the right message to him. Maybe I should just kill you right now and leave your body in the streets for him to find. Maybe I can do more. You know, some of my men haven't really been with anyone lately. Maybe I can let them have a little fun with you before I kill you." Delia slowly lifted her head to look into Justine's eyes. Her face was bloody and bruised from Justine's torture.

"I…I will…not die today." Delia said with slight smile. "The same cannot be said for you."

…

The rest of the Angel Hunters were in the main room of the hideout. Some were cleaning and sharpening their weapons. Other were sparing with one another. Outside the compound, the six guards patrolled the perimeter. Everyone was prepared for anything that they thought might come. Justine anticipated that Angel and his team would arrive to rescue Delia. They were surely mistaken.

One of the guards outside was walking along the perimeter. He was suddenly hit by an arrow through the chest. He fell down dead. A second guard came around the corner. And arrow hit him as well. Wesley sat on the roof adjacent to the compound with a crossbow in hand. He loaded up another arrow and took aim through the scope. Liam and Buffy were on the ground crouched behind a car. They saw a guard about to round a corner. Liam hoped that his father's talks about Wesley being a good shot were true. Wesley took aim and shot at the man rounding the corner. He hit him straight in the heart. He fell around the corner dead. Unfortunately he fell and tried to grab on to some planks of wood. The wood fell and that alerted the two guards by the door and the fourth guard that was several feet in front of him.

"Shit." Liam said.

"What now?" Buffy asked. She looked to her side where Liam was, but he had disappeared. She sighed. "I think I will get him a bell for Christmas."

Liam ditched his mother and silently ran to building that was right next to the compound. He kicked off the wall of the building and leaped right over the fence. He rolled and pulled out a throwing knife. He threw it at the fourth guard and got him in the chest. The two guards by the door came to check on the third guard that toppled over the planks of wood. Liam ran to them while simultaneously activating his wrist stakes. They weren't vampires, but Liam knew from experience that stakes could kill more than vamps. He leaped into the air and slammed the stakes into the guard's chests, sending them to the ground. He pulled out the takes and retracted them. Liam stood up and signaled for his mother and Wesley. Wesley gathered up his crossbow and head down the fire escape. Buffy came out from behind the car and went over to Liam.

"That…that was really…something." Buffy said remarking Liam's kills.

"You can thank the Scoobies for their training me." Liam replied.

"They taught you how to do all that?"

"No." Liam turned to face his mother. "Kathy." Buffy starred at her son. Wesley came over to them with two axes in hand.

"Are we ready to do this?" he asked, handing an axe to Buffy. Liam turned to face Wesley and stepped closer to the both of them.

"Remember. We go in there and we take out all of them. Especially Justine. She killed my mother. She killed my father and brother. And she was indirectly responsible for the death of my sister. Now she's taken my wife. No matter what, she dies tonight. Understood?" both Buffy and Wesley nodded to Liam. They held up their axes. Liam took out his tomahawk and knife and clasped them together.

"Cool toy. Where'd you get it?" Buffy asked.

"Kathy." Liam extended the ends of the weapon so it was the makeshift scythe. "She always was like you, mom." Buffy smiled and then turned serious. Liam faced the door and kicked it open, breaking it off of its hinges. All three of them entered the compound. "Honey, I'm home." Liam called out. Everyone inside went for weapons and held them at the ready. The entire crew went after the three. Liam blocked a blow and slashed the guy across the face before finishing with another slash, sending him to the ground. Buffy blocked a slash from a guy's sword, kicked him and slashed him the same manner as Liam. Wesley hit a man in the gut with the blunt end of his axe and brought his axe in a downward arc onto his back.

Justine turned to the sound of the fighting that erupted outside their room. Delia smile mischievously. "This is the end." Delia said.

"No." Justine said and turned to Delia. "This is the beginning."

A guy went after Liam but Liam spun to dodge the blow and used the spin as momentum to embed the blade of his scythe into the man's back. He took his weapon out and used the knife end to stab another guy as he came to him. Two men, armed with swords came after Liam next from either side of him. Liam blocked one guy and then the other. He quickly disarmed the first guy and slashed him across the face. The second guy attempted to punch him but Liam ducked and hit him in the gut with the knife end of his scythe. H went back to the first guy and chopped at his back. Then he went back to the second, parried a strike and chopped at his neck. Two guys went after Wesley. Wesley did what Liam did before and spun to dodge a blow. And proceeded to hit the guy in the face with the blunt of his axe, dodging another blow by the second guy before tripping him his axe. Wesley quickly slashed at the first guy's throat before chopping at the downed guys back. There was only one guy left. He was big and had two axes in hand. He twirled them around in his hands in an intimidating manner. Liam shook his head, placed his weapon in his other hand and drew his pistol, shooting the man.

"Nice job Indy." Buffy commented.

"We have to find Delia and Justine." Liam said.

"Present." They heard a female voice say. They all turned to the voice and saw Justine come out of a room with a gun pointed at Delia's head. Delia had her hands tied behind her back and she looked bloody and beaten. Rage rose in Liam's body seeing his wife the way he did. Her shirt was torn open and he could see deep cuts on her body. Her face was beaten and bruised. And he could tell that one of Delia's arms seemed to have been dislocated.

"Delia. What did you do to her?"

"Oh nothing. Just injected her with a special cerium that temporarily deprives slayers of their powers."

"The Cruciamentum." Both Buffy and Wesley whispered.

"You drugged my wife?" Liam accused.

"She tried to escape and killed four of my men. It was nothing personal. Well….maybe it was a bit personal."

"Let her go. It's over Justine." Wesley said.

"I thought I killed you."

"For a brief moment then so did I. Until a friend of mine saved me."

"Well that's great and all but you guys aren't getting out of here alive."

"Funny. We were going to say the same thing to you." Buffy said.

"You know he kidnapped him. He kidnapped your son." Justine taunted. "The great Wesley Wyndham-Price, the shining beacon of all that's good and pure. But wait, no! That's before he betrayed his closest friends. Before he betrayed you. A demon slave-whore."

"You were always a slave, Justine. You just couldn't see the chains." Wesley told her.

"Thanks, Swami, I'll meditate on that."

"You think she would be disappointed?"

"Who?"

"Your sister. That's where it all began, isn't it? Sister murdered by a vampire, consumed by a need of revenge..."

"For justice!"

"Is that what you call it?" Liam asked. "You think justice is trying to kidnap a man's son and raise him to hate his parents? You think Justice is killing off a man's family and letting the world go to hell all for a vendetta?"

"I'm saving the world."

"No you're not." Liam lowered his weapon and stepped closer to Justine and Delia. Justine pushed the gun into Delia's head. "Justine, I've seen the future. I'm from it. What you are doing, what you will do will seal the fate of the entire world. My parents are key in the earth's survival. If you kill them now, the world goes too. Are you really willing to let that happen?"

Justine didn't look convinced. "I don't believe a word you say. Now drop your weapons, or I kill her." Nobody moved. Liam clutched his scythe in his left hand and his pistol in the other. He could easily raise it and shoot at Justine, but he didn't know if he would be quick enough to kill Justin before shot Delia. "She dies!"

"Wait! Wait!" Liam dropped his scythe and pistol to the ground. Buffy and Wesley did the same. "It's me you truly want. You can have me. Just let her go." Delia looked up at Liam. Their eyes met. She knew what he was doing. He was giving himself up again, for her. She could read his eyes. They were filled with fear. Not from the fact that he could die. But from the fact that she could die. He truly loved her. And she loved him. She maneuvered her hands that were tied behind her back.

"Wait." Delia said. Justine looked to her. Delia looked right at Liam. "Liam, remember…" Liam looked at his wife. "I love you." She gave him a weak smile. Liam saw it in her eyes.

"Delia..." Delia bowed her head. Then she slammed the back of it into Justine's face. She quickly brought her foot back and used it as a hook to trip Justine back. They both fell. Delia landed right on Justine. Justine gasped and fired her gun. Delia's head jerked to the side, blood spurted on the wall. "DELIAAAA!" Liam screamed.

**Think I'm cruel ending it this way? Well, to be fair I have to have some horrible cliffhangers don't I? Otherwise, what sort of writer am I? The next chapter will clear up a lot of detail about Liam, Delia, Liam's plan, Liam's past, and whole bunch of other things. Just as soon as I get more into it. I don't have a lot at the moment. But I will and will post the next chapter as soon as possible. However, I am also thinking about the next sequel and how it will all fit into Buffy and Angel and Liam and Delia and everything. So it might be awhile. Sorry if that disappoints anybody. But don't worry. This story is constantly on my mind and I am always thinking of new ideas. **

**If you have any ideas you want me to write in, PM me or post in review or something. I am always opened to suggestions. Stay tuned.**


	26. Love Thought Deprived

Chapter 26: Love Thought Deprived

**So here is where you find out about Delia's fate after Justine had her captured. I also tried my hand at a little M rated content in this chapter. It was my first time so if it isn't as good as other M rated stories you've read, don't judge. Unless you think it's good. I put in a Angel and Buffy moment here because hey, it's a Buffy and Angel fic. **

About a dozen or so men were in an old abandoned wooden building. Some of the men were talking amongst themselves. Others were sharpening swords and axes. A few were sparing with one another. They were training for a fight they would face soon. The door to the place burst open and was knocked off its hinges. Three figures appeared in the doorway. A blonde petit woman with an axe in hand, a brown haired man with glasses who also had an axe, and dark haired man with piercing green eyes, a black coat, and held a type of axe with a knife at the end.

"Honey, I'm home." Liam called out. The men in the building grabbed their weapons and a fight ensued. They were no match for the three that just entered. Wesley and Buffy took out a few of the men, but Liam seemed to be a one man army, taking out man after man that came at him. Soon there was only one guy left. He was big and had two axes in hand. He twirled them around in his hands in an intimidating manner. Liam shook his head, placed his makeshift scythe in his left hand and drew his pistol, shooting the man.

"Nice job Indy." Buffy commented.

"We have to find Delia and Justine." Liam said.

"Present." They heard a female voice say. They all turned to the voice and saw Justine come out of a room with a gun pointed at Delia's head. Delia had her hands tied behind her back and she looked bloody and beaten. Rage rose in Liam's body seeing his wife the way he did. Her shirt was torn open and he could see deep cuts on her body. Her face was beaten and bruised. And he could tell that one of Delia's arms seemed to have been dislocated.

"Delia. What did you do to her?"

"Oh nothing. Just injected her with a special cerium that temporarily deprives slayers of their powers."

"The Cruciamentum." Both Buffy and Wesley whispered.

"You drugged my wife?" Liam accused.

"She tried to escape and killed four of my men. It was nothing personal. Well….maybe it was a bit personal."

"Let her go. It's over Justine." Wesley said.

"I thought I killed you."

"For a brief moment then so did I. Until a friend of mine saved me."

"Well that's great and all but you guys aren't getting out of here alive."

"Funny. We were going to say the same thing to you." Buffy said.

"You know he kidnapped him. He kidnapped your son." Justine taunted. "The great Wesley Wyndham-Price, the shining beacon of all that's good and pure. But wait, no! That's before he betrayed his closest friends. Before he betrayed you. A demon slave-whore."

"You were always a slave, Justine. You just couldn't see the chains." Wesley told her.

"Thanks, Swami, I'll meditate on that."

"You think she would be disappointed?"

"Who?"

"Your sister. That's where it all began, isn't it? Sister murdered by a vampire, consumed by a need of revenge..."

"For justice!"

"Is that what you call it?" Liam asked. "You think justice is trying to kidnap a man's son and raise him to hate his parents? You think Justice is killing off a man's family and letting the world go to hell all for a vendetta?"

"I'm saving the world."

"No you're not." Liam lowered his weapon and stepped closer to Justine and Delia. Justine pushed the gun into Delia's head. "Justine, I've seen the future. I'm from it. What you are doing, what you will do will seal the fate of the entire world. My parents are key in the earth's survival. If you kill them now, the world goes too. Are you really willing to let that happen?"

Justine didn't look convinced. "I don't believe a word you say. Now drop your weapons, or I kill her." Nobody moved. Liam clutched his scythe in his left hand and his pistol in the other. He could easily raise it and shoot at Justine, but he didn't know if he would be quick enough to kill Justin before she shot Delia. "She dies!"

"Wait! Wait!" Liam dropped his scythe and pistol to the ground. Buffy and Wesley did the same. "It's me you truly want. You can have me. Just let her go." Delia looked up at Liam. Their eyes met. She knew what he was doing. He was giving himself up again, for her. She could read his eyes. They were filled with fear. Not from the fact that he could die. But from the fact that she could die. He truly loved her. And she loved him. She maneuvered her hands that were tied behind her back.

"Wait." Delia said. Justine looked to her. Delia looked right at Liam. "Liam, remember…" Liam looked at his wife. "I love you." She gave him a weak smile. Liam saw it in her eyes.

"Delia..." Delia bowed her head. Then she slammed the back of it into Justine's face. She quickly brought her foot back and used it as a hook to trip Justine back. They both fell. Delia landed right on Justine. Justine gasped and fired her gun. Delia's head jerked to the side, blood spurted on the wall. "DELIAAAA!" Liam screamed. Liam rushed over to his wife and pulled her off of Justine. He saw something that surprised even him. Delia had a hidden wrist blade underneath her left forearm sleeve of her shirt that she used to stab Justine in the stomach as they both fell. It retracted back into place and Liam held Delia, checking her wound. The bullet did little more than graze Delia's right temple. That was good. However blood seeped out of the wound. That wasn't good. Buffy and Wesley came over and checked on Justine. Her eyes were open but she wasn't moving or breathing. Delia's blade pierced her side, killing her instantly as they hit the ground. Buffy let out a sigh of relief. Liam held Delia in his arms as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"You're ok baby." Liam said to her as he stroked back some hair on her mostly good side. "It's just a graze. You'll be ok."

"Justine?" Delia asked weakly.

"Dead." He answered and smiled. "I can't believe you had a hidden blade on you."

Delia smiled. "What can I say? I had a good teacher." Liam smiled at the compliment. "They didn't check my wrists for weapons. They should have."

"Yeah. They should have. You constantly surprise me."

"I'm full of surprises." Delia used her husband's catchphrase. Liam laughed at her using it. She smiled too before her eyes closed.

"Delia?" Delia's head slumped back. "Delia. Delia." Liam patted her face to get her to wake up. "Come on baby, don't do this." Delia didn't say anything. Buffy and Wesley stood behind Liam watching the scene before them. "Delia, don't trick me. Not after everything. Don't trick me again. Ok, you got me back for being in a coma. Don't be in one yourself." He gently shook Delia, tears welding up in his eyes. "Delia, no." Liam began to cry and held his wife's body. "It should have been me. It should have been me." He repeated. "Delia please." He kept begging. Tears fell from his eyes. "Open your eyes, please. Open your eyes." Delia laid there in his arms. "Don't do this, please." Buffy and Wesley looked on the sad scene before them. Buffy was crying again and was being held by Wesley who mustered up the bravest face he could make. Liam sat crying as he held his wife's body. Unable to accept the concept that she would die. After spending two years in the past, trying to save his family, he was about to lose the most important of them all.

Wesley looked at Liam holding Delia, seeing her wounds and watching her die. Then a thought occurred to him. Not just a thought, but a memory. He remembered when he was dying from Justine's throat slash, Liam chanted something and his wound healed up.

Wesley let go of Buffy and crouched by Liam. "Liam, she can be saved. Can't you do the spell that healed me to heal her?" Wesley asked. Liam stopped crying and looked to Wesley with a face of realization. He was so focused on his wife dying that he completely forgot about the fact that he might be able to heal her. He gently laid Delia down and held his hands over her head wound. He started chanting and a blue glow emanated from his hands. Buffy and Wesley watched with anticipation. It didn't look like anything was happening. Buffy shook her head and held a hand to her mouth. Wesley closed his eyes and bowed his head. Liam kept chanting as he continued to cry. Delia's wounds weren't healing up. Then all the wounds on Delia's face started to heal. The blood that came out of Delia's head wound receded back and the graze mended itself.

"It's working." Buffy said happily. Wesley lifted his head and looked at Delia's wounds healing. Liam kept chanting and the wounds on Delia's face healed up completely. It didn't look like she was even harmed. Liam moved his hands down to Delia's torso and kept chanting. Her cuts healed up as well. Liam stopped chanting and starred at his wife's body, praying that it had worked. At first Delia didn't do anything. Fear gripped Liam's insides. Suddenly she stirred. Liam held his breath for something more.

Delia started to move. Liam let out his held breath in relief. Buffy smiled at Delia. She opened her eyes and looked at the three. She felt her head where her gunshot wound use to be. "Guess I didn't die." Delia said weakly. Everyone had a smile grow on their faces. "Cool." She said and made everyone laugh. Liam smiled and carefully lifted Delia up and hugged her. Delia still felt weak, but tried to hug him back.

"I'm sorry Delia." Liam said to her. "I am so sorry. I should never have sacrificed myself like I did. You are what's most important to me. I promise I'll never do it again."

Delia chuckled. "We both know that's a promise you can't keep."

"Maybe so. But I'll try to not do it again." Liam kissed his wife and cupped her face. "I can't lose you Delia."

"Then take me to bed or lose me forever." She teased. They both laughed and got a laugh from Buffy and Wesley. Buffy came forward and bent down to Delia.

"Delia." Buffy said. Delia looked towards Buffy.

"Hey mom." Delia said, making Buffy laugh. She leaned forward and hugged her daughter-in-law. She was quite happy to have her back. She and Delia weren't close, but she liked the way Liam was when he was around her. She liked how Delia made him happy.

"Wes, you wanna join in on the hugging?" Liam asked him. Wesley laughed again.

"I believe after everything we've been through in the past two days, we could all use a rest and get to hugging later." Wesley said.

"Oh come on Wes, there free." Delia said. Wesley smiled and bent down to hug Delia. Everything seemed to be better than it ever could be with all of them. And it was all thanks to Liam. Wesley was still part of the team, Connor was safe, both Liam and Delia managed to survive and save Buffy and Angel whom both were together and happy now. Everything seemed great to them.

Liam and Wesley helped Delia up to her feet. Liam took off his coat and placed it around Delia. They gathered up their weapons and started to head on out of the hideout.

"I'll call the police and notify them to all this." Wesley said taking out his phone.

"No." Liam said. Wesley looked to him. "Let's not worry the police about this just yet. Let's first take Delia back, get her into bed, and check on Connor. That's our priority at the moment."

"Alright." Wesley said putting his phone back into his pocket. "And then we'll notify the police."

"Yes." Liam aid and led Delia out with Buffy and Wesley behind him.

"So what does this mean now?" Buffy asked on their way to the car. "Does this mean that now, Angel, Connor, and I can live and the future won't go to hell?"

"Well, the odds that the world won't go to hell have increased dramatically." Liam said. "But there's much I have to go over to make sure that we've done what has been needed to be done."

"So not out of the woods yet, hunh?"

"No. But I can see the edge of it."

"Well, that's enlightening." Wesley said cheerfully. "How about we get right on it and save the future here and now."

Both Delia and Liam turned to look at him. "How about we sleep for like a week before we do anything too strenuous." Delia suggested.

"Seconded." Both Liam and Buffy said.

"Right." Wesley said as he opened trunk to Liam's Charger. Buffy and Wesley put the weapons in as Liam helped Delia into the back seat.

…

Everyone was gathered around the lobby. Angel was pacing nervously with Connor in his arms. He didn't like waiting around. Especially when it involved one of his sons and his wife. He should have gone with them. They had been out longer than they were supposed to be, he estimated. Fred walked up to the rest of the gang waiting in the middle of the Hyperion's lobby. "Still no answer on his cell phone." She said.

"That's bad right?" Angel said. "It could mean that he's hurt or, or, he's dead. Oh god."

"Angel, calm down." Cordy said. "It could just mean that he turned it off because he's doing something stealthy."

"Maybe we should head back out, go to where Holtz' lair was, see if we can pick up the trail of where they are." Gunn suggested.

"A wise plan. I will assist with tracking." Groo said.

"No." Cordy said.

"But if Delia was kidnapped, and if she was hurt, and if Buffy, Wesley, and Liam found her..." Fred started.

"They did."

The lobby doors opened and Buffy and Wesley came in with Liam behind them holding up a limping Delia who was still wearing his coat.

"Delia." Groo said.

"You found her." Cordy said.

"Wasn't all that hard." Liam said bringing Delia further into the lobby.

"Did they hurt you?" Fred asked Delia.

"Hurt is putting it mildly." Delia said as Liam put her on the settee.

"What happened?" Angel asked.

"Wesley took out the guards patrolling the perimeter." Buffy started to explain. "He was really quite the shot." She said sounding impressed.

"Well, I was one of the best sharpshooters at the Watchers Academy." Wesley said proudly. "You have to be precise to get the vampire in the heart."

"Well you got all three of the six you shot at."

"Three outta six?" Gunn said.

"Three for three actually." Liam clarified not taking his eyes of Delia as he continued to check her for any more injuries. "The other three needed to be taken out up front. He took out a third of what was in the hideout."

"Wow." Fred said impressed.

"Way to go English." Gunn said patting Wesley on the back.

"You are a brave warrior Wesley." Groo said. Wesley smiled at the praise he was getting.

"Well, I can't take all the credit." He said trying to sound modest on purpose. "Liam was the true great warrior tonight. Killing most, saving the damsel. But in no small part due to a rogue demon hunter such as myself." Delia giggled at Wesley and Liam tried unsuccessfully to hide a snicker.

"Ok, so what really happened?" Angel asked smiling.

"Everything that mom pretty much said was the truth." Liam said. "Wesley is quite the watcher. I'm surprised that the council canned you."

"Well to be honest, back then I was…not quite what an actual watcher should have been."

"Starchy suits and bumbling idiocy." Cordy said.

"But I would have him on my team any day." Liam commented making Wesley smile again.

"So what happened to Delia?" Gunn asked wanting to know the specifics.

"Justine tried to get me to talk about Liam. I refused and broke from my restraints and killed four of her lackeys. Then she knocked me out and injected me with a cerium that deprives me of my slayer powers." Delia explained.

"There's a cerium for that?" Fred asked.

"The Watcher's used it in the Cruciamentum." Wesley explained.

"A rite of passage for a slayer." Buffy added. "I went through it on my 18th birthday. Nearly got killed in the process."

"And I was injected with it." Delia continued. "Justine asked me again about Liam and I gave her nothing. Then she started to carve me with a knife." She opened up the coat to reveal her torn open shirt and her torso. Luckily she was wearing a bra.

"I don't see anything." Cordy said.

"Are you sure?" Gunn said with a raise eyebrow and a smile looking at Delia. That got him a well-deserved slap to the back of the head by both Fred and Buffy.

Liam smiled at Gunn's slap. "I healed her." Liam explained. "She was beaten and bloody. Once we took care of the toady team, Justine came out with a gun pointed at Delia's head. Delia was able to muster up some strength and slammed her head into Justine's and then trip her. Justine was stabbed by Delia's hidden wrist blade and the gun went off. Delia was grazed and I healed her right up."

"But I still fell weak and like crap." Delia said.

"I bet you do." Liam said smiling.

Cordy went over and sat next to Delia. "Do you want anything?" She asked.

"An aspirin, sleep, and possibly…." Delia was cut off as a number of commandos busted through the doors, all pointing guns at them. "A team of trained commandos." Angel curled around Connor while Buffy took position to defend them. Liam did the same with Delia. Cordy held Delia as more commandos came in through the balconies. All of them formed a circle around the team, pointing guns at them.

Liam looked at all of the commandos. "Whoa. And I thought insurance salesman were pushy."

…

In a van parked outside of the hotel, Linwood and Gavin were watching the ambush on a couple of screens. The whole thing was being recorded by cameras on the commandos.

"Torture me with magic, wipe my memory, cuff me to a track in the way of an oncoming train, and let me go. Chowder head!" Linwood said. "I want the baby, the man with the green eyes, or the woman in the black coat." He said into a comlink.

…

"Roger that." A commando replied. Liam overheard the orders given. Liam narrowed his eyes and looked around at every commando surrounding them.

"Everyone, gather around Delia." Liam ordered. Everyone did without question.

"Move in on the targets." The leader gave the order. The commandos closed in.

Liam clenched his fist tight, making it crack. "Everyone hang on." He said. Everyone grabbed a hold of someone. Liam lifted his fists and slammed them on the ground, and with a little bit of magic help, created a shockwave that made the AI team stumble and caused the commandos to lose their balance and fall to the floor. Liam straightened up and shook his hands at the pain that brought him. He brushed it off and pulled out his tomahawk and knife, clasping them together and extending them.

"Nice." Gunn complimented.

A few commandos got to their feet. Liam ran for the first one and sliced his throat with a clean swing from his scythe. He brought his weapon down on the second commandos head, embedding the axe head in it. He pulled it out and casually pushed the commando to the floor. He threw his scythe like a Frisbee at the next commando, getting him in the chest.

…

"Kid's pretty good." Gavin said watching Liam take out three commandos.

"Oh, I can't wait to get my hands on him, cut him open, see what makes him tick." Linwood said watching.

…

Buffy decided that she had enough and joined the fight. She grabbed the gun of a commando that just got up and knocked him out with it. She dropped the gun to the floor, not particularly liking them, before engaging some more commandos. Angel handed Connor over to Fred and helped out his wife and son. Wesley, Gunn, and Groo followed suit. They all grabbed weapons and began a fight with the commandos.

"Abort! Abort! Abort! Abort!" they heard a commando say. The rest of the team that were still alive fell back to the doors and went out them.

"What? Not even stay to finish it?" Gunn said. Buffy went to Fred and gathered Connor up in her arms. Cordy still held Delia as everyone looked around for more commandos. Cordy looked around for someone else.

"Hey." She said getting the attention of everyone. "Where's Liam?" she asked.

…

"Where's Liam?" Linwood and Gavin heard Cordy said through the comlinks of one of the dead commandos.

"Where is he?" Linwood asked.

"He doesn't appear to be on any of the cameras." Gavin observed.

"Except that one." Linwood pointed to a camera and saw Liam coming over the van. "Drive! Drive!" The driver jumped behind the wheel, but Liam ripped the back doors of the van open before he could get the engine started. Liam reached in and pulled Linwood out. "Hey! Yeah, okay. Easy. Easy. Easy. Now we're even." Linwood said.

"Even? We are far from even." Liam said menacingly. "I told Lilah to tell you that my family is off limits. If you so much as bump into any one of them on the streets, I will destroy everything of Wolfram and Hart until the only thing left is your burning carcasses. And you had better thank God that I am a fair man. This is your final warning. Come after my family again…..and you're dead. Understood?" Linwood nodded fearfully. "Humh. I don't think so. Let me give you a slight demonstration of what happens if you come back." Liam through Linwood into the van, climbed in, and closed the doors. The van started shaking and rocking from side to side. Screams were heard coming from the van. The van stopped shaking and Liam came out from the back with a satisfied look on his face. "Now that's what I call a party van." Liam walked away. In the van, Linwood was on the floor groaning, Gavin was lying against one of the walls and the driver was slumped in the driver's seat. All of them had beating marks on them.

…

Angel, Wesley, Gunn, and Groo came into the lobby after dropping the dead bodies of Wolfram and Harts commandos off in a dumpster. Wolfram and Hart would be back to gather them up. Buffy was rocking Connor in her arms. Fred was on the settee with Delia who was still being held by Cordy.

"Any word?" Angel asked his wife.

"Not a word." Buffy answered. "God, I hate it when Liam does this. He sneaks off to do god knows what."

"He probably has his reasons." Cordy said.

"And he did." Everyone turned to the voice and saw Liam coming from the lobby doors.

"Liam, are you ok?" Cordy asked first.

"I'm fine. Found Linwood outside and showed him firsthand what would happen if he and Wolfram and Hart come after my family again."

"Liam…" Buffy said.

"Relax. I just roughed him up a bit. Not a big deal." After a beat. "For the moment."

"So are we to expect any Wolfram and Hart any time soon?" Gunn asked.

"Doubt it." Liam said going over to the settee and kneeling by Delia. "How are you?" he asked concerned.

"Mad." Delia answered.

"Why?"

"You didn't save one for me."

"Could you fight any of them?" Delia looked down. "Exactly. Now physically how are you?"

"She's fine." Cordy answered. "No one got within ten feet of her."

"Thank you Cordy." Liam smiled at her. Cordy smiled at Liam. Groo looked away from the sight he was seeing.

"Yes, thank you everyone for my safety." Delia said. "Now can I go to bed? I feel like I need to sleep."

"I'll help get her into bed." Cordy said and helped Delia stand up. Both she and Liam helped Delia up the stairs towards her and Liam's bedroom. Groo watched them go with a slight frown.

…

Cordy helped Delia to her room and asked Liam if she could help with anything else. Liam refused her offer and said he would do everything himself. He told her to go home to Groo. Cordy do so. As for Delia, Liam helped her out of her clothes and ran a hot bath from her to soak her sores in. Delia was still pretty weak from the torture and the cerium given to her. Liam helped her into the hot bath and started to voluntarily clean her. H grabbed a wash cloth and started to clean Delia.

"I can take my own bath." Delia said to him.

"I know. But you're still weak and I want to help." Liam told her still washing her back.

"Is this you trying to make up for nearly dying all the time?"

"No. This is me taking care of my wife after she'd been drugged and beaten. I would have done this even if I haven't been willing to sacrifice myself. The rest of my family is safe and I want take care of the family that I've neglected."

Delia smiled. "So this is you trying to make up for neglecting me?"

Liam sighed. "Yes. I'm sorry."

"I already forgave you. I know how much you care for your family."

"You are my family. You should come first."

"But wouldn't that go against your policy about taking care of every one of your family or none at all?"

"That's for when I'm saving them. Not when I'm caring for them. There's a difference." Liam finished washing Delia's back and moved to her arms. "When it comes to people saving family, it's all or none. When it comes to loving my family, my wife comes first. First and always."

Delia smiled up at Liam. "Thank you."

After finishing her bath, Liam helped dry Delia and got clean pajama clothes on her. He helped the best he could to brush her hair, until Delia just told him to let her do it in the morning. Liam carried her to the bed and gently laid her down. He got himself ready for bed and climbed in next to her, bringing her close to him. He held her as Delia held his arms and snuggled in close to him. Liam placed a few kisses on her shoulders and neck.

"I'm so sorry." Liam said again.

"I forgive you. Just don't ever do it again." Delia said.

"Never." They laid in bed together until sleep consumed them both.

…

Cordy entered her apartment.

"Hi, honey. It's me! And I got your favorites: Tuna and ice cream. How about tonight you try 'not' mixing it together?" Cordy said dropping her stuff on the table and turning to see Groo standing in the bedroom, wearing a brown leather jacket. "Oh, there you are. Wow. You like nice!" Groo slowly raised his head to look at her. "What's wrong?"

"I am. Wrong. For you." Groo answered.

"What?"

"I am not the one you love. He is."

"He is? Who he?"

…

Angel went to answer a knock on his door. "Yo. Hey! Lorne. Come on in."

"Well, you're in a good mood."

"Yeah. Connor's safe. Liam and Delia are ok. There isn't any reason for my not to be cheery."

"Well, I'm glad everything is going great for you and for Liam. You both have done a lot for this world. You all deserve some happiness."

"You bet."

"Well, I thought, I'd stop by and say arrivederci, Angel-hair."

"You're really going?"

"I'm really going."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Lorne held out a CD. "Here, I got you and Buffy a little something to remember me by."

On the CD was a picture of Lorne, smiling while holding a microphone. Angel read the title. "Songs for the love Lorne. Oh, I get it. Lovelorn, because your name is Lorne."

"Yeah, my publicist's idea. Her name is mud now but the tunes are good. And, ah, and that's not my real gift. This is: Buffy loves you. The way you feel about her is pretty much exactly how she feels about you. I know that you've been having doubts ever since you two got back together. You two are so obviously connected. Bubela, all I'm saying is: stay open. Connor's safe. Liam seems to have the whole future thing under control. Your whole life is coming together. Sometimes things do work out. I got to skiddoo."

"Take good care of yourself, and keep in touch."

"I'll drop you a line. Let you know where to send the gift basket." Lorne waved over his shoulder as he walked towards the door. When he shut the door, Angel smiled.

…

"I love Liam? What are you talking about? I - love... you know... us." Cordy told grew. She was shocked by his statement that she was somehow in love with her best friends son form the future who was also married.

Groo just looked at her. "You two are so obviously connected somehow. When he grieves, when he is hurting, your heart breaks for him."

"I do that for anyone. That's just who I am."

"In my heart I have known the truth for some time. I believed that is was towards Angel. But I saw how you cared for Liam. Even with his marriage to Delia, you still care for him. I've just been - struggling - to find the courage to do what is right."

…

Liam and Delia were sleeping soundly in bed. Or so it seemed. Liam lifted his head and looked to his sleeping wife. She was sleeping peacefully. Liam smiled at her before climbing out of bed. He put on his work clothes. His dark blue jeans, combat boots, black shirt, and coat. He put on his weapons belt and left his apartment.

…

Cordy was driving down a crowded freeway, honked at the car in front of her then pulled all the way from the right, across the middle and into the left lane.

"Slow poke! I'm late. I'm late. And it's not a date." She told the driver. Cordy lifted a hand in front of her mouth to check her breath. "We're just gonna talk like two grown-up adults. Two grown up adults trying to save a relationship." Suddenly Cordy began to glow from the inside. "Oh, no! No, no, no! Not now!" White light streamed out of its windows, pulling across traffic and over onto the left shoulder while everything around it slowed and came to a stop. Cordy, no longer glowing, looked around her and saw that her fellow motorists are frozen in time. "Oh, shit."

…

In the building that Delia was rescued from and that Justine and her gang were killed in, bodies still littered the floor. There was a deadly silence to the room. Everyone laid in the same positions that they died in. The door to the building was still lying on the floor, almost broken. A shadow of a figure appeared in the moonlight that streamed into the doorway. The figure walked in. The only sound now heard in the room was his boots as he walked in. The figure stopped just a few feet from Justine's dead body. He didn't do anything. He just stood there starring at her. Justine still laid on the ground in the same position as when she died. Her eyes still open. The figure looking down was Liam. He looked at Justine, not with an angry look, not with a murderous look, but a sorrowful look.

"I was going to let you live." Liam said to Justine's dead body. "After twenty years of your presence in my dreams, seeing you kill my entire family, making me live in a hell, after all the shit you've done, I…was going to let you live. After all this time, I imagined that when I first met you for the first time since I was child, I expected to see a woman that was so evil I couldn't explain how she was even created. But instead, I saw who you really were. You were nothing more than confused, lost, misguided. I wanted nothing more than to hate you for everything you've done to me. But seeing you holding Delia with a gun to her head, I looked into your eyes and saw that you were still in pain. From your sister's death. Believing that what you were doing was right. In that instance, I didn't hate you. I pitied you. I felt so sorry for you. You were a lost soul and Holtz manipulated you. I'm sorry that I couldn't…." Liam sighed. "Didn't try to save you before. But I was going to let you live." After a beat. "Guess that proves who the better person was. I actually…wished that you didn't have to die. But even though you did, and even though you are responsible for what happened to me and my life, I'm still compiled to do even this to you." Liam went to Justine side and bent down to her. He closed her eyes and made the sign of the cross in the air. "No one should leave this world without being delivered some act of kindness. _May the lord see fit to reunite you with your sister. May you finally know the truth to the world and may he who is almighty grant you the peace that was taken from you. Rest in peace, Justine Cooper._" Liam finished and stood up. He had tears in his eyes but kept a straight face. He turned and exited the building. Outside, Liam pulled out his phone and called the police. After calling them, Liam walked to his charger he had parked across the street. He got in and drove. He stopped at a light and looked around. His gaze fell upon an alley that was familiar to him. He was never in it before, but it looked like another alley was in before.

…

**May 19, 2026**

**London, England**

**Nighttime**

Liam was fighting in an alley with a black clad man. Liam had his tomahawk and his knife out. The man he was fighting had a sword drawn. Liam's tomahawk and the man's sword clashed together. Liam tried to slash with his knife, but the man quickly parried the blow. Liam tried slashing with his tomahawk. The man dodged the blow and slashed with his sword, cutting Liam across the chest. Luckily Liam was wearing his light weight armor underneath his shirt. They stood in fighting stances ready for the next person to move. The man Liam was fighting with stood looking confident. Liam couldn't see his face because of his balaclava but Liam could see his eyes. They didn't look at all scarred. They were perfectly focused. Liam's on the other hand, were filled with rage, anger, and hate. It had only been a few months since Liam joined Kathy's team in England. He had been training at first and tonight was one of his first missions. He had come face to face with one of the Crow members. Liam was here to kill the man and end his reign that he had in the city. He had been running a small team of the Crows in London to take out slayers when they were least expecting it. They usually got their target. Tonight it ended. But Liam was here for more than just to kill assassins. He was here to find out about Justine. The woman who killed his family.

Liam ran at the man and tried to slash at him, but the Crow member simply moved out of the way and parried Liam's next slash attack.

"You're distracted. Unfocused." The Crow taunted. "You can't possibly be able to defeat your enemy without a cleared mind."

"Thanks Qui-Gon. I'll use that." Liam shot back before reengaging his enemy. What his enemy said was true. Liam wasn't going to get anywhere if he couldn't focus. Liam tried slashing a few more times, but the man just dodged them all. On his final strike, the man dodged and slashed Liam on the back twice. Liam fell to the ground on all fours. His armor protected him but Liam wouldn't last if he didn't change his tactics.

"You're good kid. But not that good." The man raised his sword for a clean blow to the neck. As he brought it down, Liam parried the blow with his knife and jabbed him in the neck with his tomahawk. He didn't hit him with the sharp part, but at least he made his enemy go back a bit so that Liam could regain his composure.

"Nice line, but it's 'you're good kid, real good. But you'll always be second best'." Liam went after his opponent again. He tried slashing at every open spot, but the Crow member was quick to dodge every blow. The Crow tried to slash at Liam's side, but Liam blocked the blow with his knife and tried to chop at his opponent's neck. The man grabbed Liam's arm and stopped the blow. They stayed in that position until Liam decided to play dirty. He kneed the man in his crotch. The man groaned and Liam broke free from his hold and chopped at his collar again, this time making his mark. The man went to his knees and Liam grabbed his shirt, pulled off his balaclava, and pulled him up to eye level. "I wanna know about Justine. Where is she? Where can I find her?" Liam demanded.

"I'm sorry, where you hoping for a confession?" the Crow said before his head slumped back and he died.

"Worthless piece of shit!" Liam yelled to the dead body. "I only wish you'd suffered more! You met the fate you deserved! I hope yo…."

"Liam, enough." Liam heard a voice from behind him. He turned and saw his sister there, glaring at him. Kathy walked over and made Liam let go of the body. The body dropped to the ground. "Show some respect." She said to him.

"Respect? He works for the organization that killed our family. He works for Wolfram and Hart who threaten to send this world to hell. Do you think they would have shown any of us respect?"

"We are not the Crows or Wolfram and Hart. You are not one of them. Do not become them. On my team, we show respect to the dead. Friend and foe." Kathy took a knee by the dead Crow and made the sign of the cross. "_May the lord see fit to grant you second chance. May he show mercy and you know the true ways of the world. Rest in peace._" Kathy got back up and looked at the body. "We do not disrespect the dead, Liam." She faced him. "To disrespect the dead is to disrespect all who have died for any cause. Even our own." She took a few steps forward so that she was inches from Liam. "You respect the dead so that you don't disrespect all who have died. Including mom. If I hear you disrespect the dead again, I will disown you as my brother. Understood?"

Liam bowed his head in shame. "Yes." He said.

Kathy brushed past Liam. She stopped before leaving. "And by the way, Justine's dead. Wolfram and Hart killed her to gain control of the Crows. All your work has been for nothing. Sorry." She left the alley. Liam closed his eyes and let a few tears drop from them. He didn't realize that if he disrespected the dead, he would also disrespect his own parents and his brother. Not just that, he had missed his chance to kill the woman who caused him so much pain. The man he killed died for a cause just as the same as they did. He deserved some respect. Some act of kindness before leaving this world. Or else, he would be no better than the people he was fighting against. Liam vowed to himself that day that he would never disrespect the dead ever again.

…

**Streets of LA**

**Present Day**

**Nighttime**

Liam remembered when he disrespected the day and vowed he would never do it ever. Kathy was usually right when it came to that kind of stuff. She had been fighting longer than he did and studied about their parents fighting styles and how to be warriors like them. But she also learned about all of their mistakes. One included them sometimes disrespecting the dead. Kathy and Liam knew of their father's dark side and knew that they inherited some of it in them. They never wanted to become it. So they did everything they could to be as good as possible. That meant respecting the dead. Even their enemies.

The light turned green and Liam drove off. He would stop at one more place before heading home.

Liam opened up a hospital morgue locker and pulled out a tray. In it lay a burned carcass. The label it had was a John Doe. Liam used his FBI ID to get into the morgue and search for the one body he still needed to respect. The autopsy report said the man died from a fall as a car plummeted into a causeway before exploding. Liam starred at the burned remains of Daniel Holtz. The man that helped ruin his brother's life. Liam remembered Connor and his father telling him about Holtz. They told him about Holtz, driven on revenge, to kill Angel and make him suffer like Holtz did. Liam grew up hating Holtz for what he did. But he also felt pity for him like Justine. He was man that had lost everything and had only one thing left in his life. Life wished he could have helped Holt in a better way, but he knew that it was a lost cause. Holt could never be reasoned with.

Liam made the sign of the cross above Holtz' body. "_May the lord see fit to grant you mercy and reunite you with your family. May you finally find peace. Rest in peace, Daniel Holtz._" Liam said. He put the tray table back and closed the locker door. Liam had finally finished one of his main missions in the past. His family was safe. His parents were together and alive. At one point, Liam believed that after doing this, he might be done and be able to go back to the future. A better future. And there might possibly be one. But it was too big of a might to say 'to hell with it'. Liam needed to be sure that the future was safe. Even if his parents were alive, he needed to be sure that Wolfram and Hart didn't enact their apocalypse in his future. He had to find the Orb of Danzalthar. He had to find it, and destroy it. To prevent anything bad in his future.

…

Cordy, now dressed in white dress gown, got out of the car and walks over to look into the window of a car at a woman frozen in the act of fixing her lipstick.

"Don't be frightened." A voice said and Cordy jumped and gasped.

"It's a little late for that!" Cordy said looking at skip.

"Sorry. You remember me? I'm..."

"Yeah. Skip. You tend to remember your demon guides. What is going on?"

"I think you know."

"I'm dying."

"No. No, you're not - dying."

"Not dying?"

"No."

Cordy punched him. "Say that part first!"

"Sorry. It's not the end. It's the beginning. You're a great warrior, Cordelia. The battle that we're all a part of is fought on many different planes and dimensions. You've outgrown this one. You've become - a higher being."

"Me?"

"You. You took on the visions, and even when you could have traded them in for a happy, normal life, even when they were killing you, you wouldn't let them go. The big test came when the Powers made you part demon. They bet the farm on you. Power corrupts. And they gave you a lot of power."

"The glowy thing."

"Which you used well - to fight evil."

"And only that one time as a night light. - Bad dreams. - Skip, I don't understand."

"I think you do."

"It's ridiculous. - I'm just a somewhat normal girl - who - has visions, glows, and occasionally blows things up with her crazy new power." Skip looked at her. "I'm a higher being."

"Yes." Skip answered.

"And when you say I've - outgrown this level that sort of implies..."

"You're moving on to a new one."

"Now I'm really scared."

"I know. But I also know you're ready."

"Oh, no, I'm not."

"Ah, the universe begs to differ. And deep down inside, I think..."

"Yes! All right? Stop saying I know! - Maybe I do know. 'Maybe.' If given enough time, I might even get 'used' to the idea, but - I don't have enough time, do I? No, of course not. Why would the Powers give me time to save the best relationship of my life? I'm trying to prevent Groo from leaving."

"What you're being called to do - transcends love."

"How is that fair? I can't leave without telling him! I won't. - He has to know how I feel! Why does this have to be now? He thinks I love Liam!"

"There is work to be done in the higher realms."

"Can you at least tell Groo I love him? Can you tell my friends?"

"Sorry. Not allowed."

"Then I'm not going. - How can they possibly do this to me now? - This is the last test, isn't it?"

"Cordelia."

Cordy turned to look at Skip and he tapped his left wrist. "I ever come face-to-face with those Powers That Be, we are going to have a talk, a big talk."

"You're doing the right thing."

"I'm scared. - But I know it's right. I know somehow it's all gonna be alright." She sighed. "What do I do?"

"Just say yes."

"I already have." Golden sparkles appeared around Cordy as she started to float up in a corridor of white light.

…

Angel was sitting on his and Buffy's bed looking at the CD Lorne left them both. Lorne gave him some advice about his and Buffy's love. Angel loved her. He would always love her and always will. He felt like an idiot to have left her in Sunnydale after graduation. He should have stayed. Maybe if he had, Willow might have found the spell to bind his soul sooner. But that didn't happen and Angel and Buffy still ended up together. With a little help from their future son. Angel was happy, and there were no consequences. However, he knew that Lorne was right. He still held doubts about his and Buffy's relationship since they got back together. Even though they now had a child and would have more in the future, he still couldn't help feel that he still wasn't enough for Buffy. Like he still could give everything to her. But those thoughts were going to go away very soon. Tonight, Angel would profess his love to Buffy. He had already done it, but tonight, he was going to truly show her. He wasn't going to have doubts, he wasn't going to have fear, he wasn't going to hold back at all. Tonight, he would tell Buffy just how much in love with her he really was.

The door opened and Buffy walked in with Connor in her arms. She was singing _Sleepsong _to him. Angel looked up at her. She placed Connor I his bassinet and finished singing to him.

"Buffy." Angel said making Buffy turn to him.

"Angel, I didn't really see you there in the dark. Why are you sitting in the dark?" She asked.

After a beat. "I was just thinking." Angel said.

Buffy turned on the lights. "About what?"

"Us."

Buffy had a worried look on her face. "Please don't tell me that you're thinking of leaving me again."

"No." Angel said immediately, standing up. "God no. Just the opposite."

"Oh."

Angel put the CD on the table and walked over to Buffy. "Buffy, I have to be honest with you. Ever since we got back together, since we got married, since Connor and Liam, I've had doubts."

"What?" Buffy said in disbelief.

"Just hear me out. It's been….it's been wonderful being with again. Being able to love you without anything keeping us apart. But I always had a feeling that it wouldn't last. Just like every time in the past we've tried, something's always prevented us from being together."

"Mostly it's been you." Buffy said.

"I know. What I am. What I have to live with. My choices. The last one being the biggest."

"Yeah. Cause if my memory is right, you told me and I remembered how you became human for like an entire day, had the best sex of our lives together, and you still gave it all up for me."

"Because I love you so much. Buffy I could never be as happy as I am with anyone else but you." This brought a smile to Buffy's face. "But I still felt like that it couldn't last." Angel sighed. "But Buffy, tonight I realize a truth that I wanted to believe for so long and now do." Angel stepped closer to Buffy so that she and him were inches away. "I love you."

"You're just now realizing this?"

"No. I mean…I've loved you. I still love you. I've just been holding some of it in. But not anymore. I love so much Buffy Summers. I wouldn't dare imagine my life without you and would never do anything to ruin it. I love you. Unconditionally, without a doubt now, with all my heart and soul. I love you." Buffy had tears of joy in her eyes. Angel never liked making Buffy cry. But it was these moments when her tears were because he just made her feel as happy as she could possibly be that he could tolerate. "I love you." He said to her again. And he meant more at that moment than any other time.

"I love you too." Buffy cried softly and with a big smile. Angel bent down and captured her lips in a fiery kiss. She kissed back with so much passion. Neither one wanted to deny each other even the smallest amount of love they could offer each other. Buffy leapt up onto Angel and wrapped her legs around his waist. Not breaking the kiss, Angel moved them both to bed and closed the double French doors that separated the bedroom from the sitting room where Connor slept soundly. Angel laid Buffy down gently and continued kissing her. He moved from her lips to her neck and kissed her scar, making her moan in pleasure. His hands found their way to the hem of her shirt and he pulled it up over her head. Their tongues dueled for domination in their mouths. His hands found her pants and he unbuttoned them. She arched her hips up so he could slide them past her hips. Angel tossed the pants to the floor and Buffy grabbed onto his pants. She unfastened his belt and slid them off. The only thing left between them were there undergarments. Soon, they were gone too. Buffy moaned again as Angel brought his hips and hers together. Angel moved slowly and passionately. Buffy wrapped her legs around him and held tight with each thrust Angel made. The both of them had made love before. When they were dating, when they got back together, when they were married, but tonight was something different. It was better than anything they had ever done before. Angel kissed Buffy again as he made love to her.

…

Liam walked into his and Delia's room. It was dark in the bedroom. Liam took of his coat and weapons belt and put them down softly, hoping not to wake his wife. He set them aside and took off his work clothes. He put on a pair of sweatpants and turned to his bed but found empty sheets. Panic gripped him as his mind thought up all sorts of possibilities.

"Delia?" he almost growled as he imagined his wife being in danger, again.

"Liam" a soft voice sounded from the bathroom. "Is that you?" Liam literally flew to the bathroom, almost talking the door of its hinges. Entering the bathroom he saw Delia sitting by the tub on the floor rubbing her thigh exposed by her half open robe. She had a sheepish expression on her face.

Cursing loudly he went to her side. "What happened?" Liam held her shoulder with one hand and ran his other hand frantically all over her. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I was just looking for you." Delia assured him.

"Oh." Liam sighed on relief before frowning. "But why were you sitting by the tub?"

"We'll, like I said I was looking for you, I went to the bathroom and um..." Delia bit her lip and mumbled the rest. "I lost my balance and fell."

"Fell?" Liam asked skeptically.

"Yeah, well needless to say I am not my hundred percent. In fact, I am not even in my fifty percent. No, I am a negative percent." Delia furrowed her brows. "Do negative percentage even exist?"

"I don't know." Liam chuckled as he picked her up in his arms. "You would have to ask Willow."

"Hmm" Delia held on to Liam's neck as he placed her on the bed, causing him to sit next to her.

"You should be sleeping" Liam chided.

"That is exactly what I was doing before not finding you in bed." Delia scowled. "Why weren't you in bed?" Liam winced. He was really hoping that she didn't notice his absence. "Liam?"

"I, I needed to do a few things." Liam began to explain.

"What things?"

After a beat. "Do you remember what Kathy taught us about the dead?"

Delia instinctively knew what Liam was talking about. "She always told us to respect them."

"That's what I did. I went back to Justine and gave her final rites before calling the police. Then I did it with Holtz' burned corpse."

"But they ruined your family's lives."

"No one should leave this life without being given some act of kindness. And you should never disrespect the dead. Even if you hate them."

"You sound like Kathy."

Liam smiled. "She was always a great teacher."

"So were you." Liam smiled again. Delia groaned and leaned against her husband. "You okay?" Liam gave a light shrug. Delia looked up from her place beneath his chin. "I didn't know where you were. I got scared." She said in a meek voice.

"I am sorry baby" Liam kissed her forehead.

Delia traced his cheek with her fingers. "I thought you left me."

"Why would you think that?"

Delia pulled away and hugged herself. "You did it a number of times before." Delia mumbled not wanting to reveal her worst fears. Liam gave her a look. "I know that those times there were legitimate circumstances, but what I mean, I am turning out to be more of a liability than help." Liam started to protest, but Delia cut him off. "I mean with my want of normalcy. The end of the world is around the corner and I am dreaming of picket fences. And vacationing on the beach." She laughed without mirth. "Seriously, I mean we are in the past, trying to protect the future and I have you tanning by the beach? Let's not even mention my hesitation over the tea leaves oh and my adventure of Russian Roulette with Justine. You could have died because of it. Instead of saving your family you would have died saving me. And now I am tripping over flat surfaces. I wouldn't be too surprised if you cut me off. In fact, it would be more helpful to you and your family if you did."

"You are part of that family. I told you that before." Liam said firmly. "You are the most important part of that family"

"No I am not. I am your weak link, your Achilles heel." All of Delia's insecurities, worries and fears were visible in her voice.

Liam pulled her back into his arms. "His heel was Achilles' one link to humanity. It what kept him grounded." Liam looked at Delia. "And you are my link to life, to sanity. You keep me grounded to sanity and reason even when there is chaos all over. Without you I would have been lost a long time ago, became a shell in Anne's shelter. No matter what, I could never leave you, not even if I wanted to."

"You might not have a choice." Delia whispered.

"Nothing is going to make me leave you." Liam promised. "Not the powers, not Wolfram and Hart nor" Liam looked into Delia's eyes with determination. "nor a changed past."

Delia's eyes widened as she realized what he said. "You know?" Delia said, "How? I…"

"Shh," Liam held a finger to her lips. "I am not leaving you, ever"

"But" Delia protested, too afraid to hope.

"No buts, I am not leaving you. Ever."

"But, Liam are you…"

"Delia, if you say but one more time, I am going to have to spank you" Liam threatened with mock seriousness.

Delia gave a small uncertain smile which soon turned mischievous. "Liam"

"Hmm..."

"BUT" Liam glared at her and pushed her down lithely on the bed. Delia gave a loud but short yelp before Liam fused his mouth with her with a growl. Delia moaned and entwined her fingers through Liam's soft thick hair. She roamed her hands over his sculpted back. Tongues dueled for dominance while Liam's fingers crept down and opened up Delia's satin robe with a tug on the strings. Liam left Delia's lips, letting her take the forgotten breath, and trailed his own down the curve of her neck. His tongue tasted the salty sweetness of her skin while his hand crept up to her breast. Delia mewled and pulled on his hair. Liam lifted her up in a sitting position, never breaking contact, and pulled the robe off her. He laid her back down and Delia tugged on his sweatpants. Liam helped her in taking off his pants. He unclasped her bra and took it off. All that was left was her panties. Liam felt Delia's raised thigh and grabbed onto her panties from behind, taking them off. Both of them were now bare to each other. "Liam" Delia moaned.

Liam chuckled and neared his mouth to her ear. Biting softly on her earlobe he crooned. "I won't leave you." Liam trailed his mouth down Delia's body, all the while repeating his words, demanding her to believe.

"Liam, Liam, Liam." she chanted, his name a litany on her lips.

Liam crept up to her and caressed her with painful softness, his eyes filled with devotion. "I will never leave" Liam said one final time and joined with her, taking them both to the closest thing to heaven. They both remained wrapped around each other. Delia played with Liam's hair as he nuzzled at her neck, while all the time thrusting in her with as much love and passion that he believed he had deprived her. "Liam"

"Yes"

"I believe you."

**And there you have it. Delia's alright. Liam and her are in love. Angel and Buffy are in love. Connor's safe, and Cordy….well…you already know. This story is almost done. Wes till have the Trio to deal with in Sunnydale. And that's where it starts next chapter. The Summer's family going to Sunnydale and dealing with a number of issues. Comment and Review.**

**Also, I'd like to give credit to the intimate moment between Liam and Delia is this chapter to the actual Delia Winters. A viewer who has helped me whenever I've gotten stuck as well as given me info to make her character in this story. Delia, thank you very much. I'd also recommend that you read her story, **_**Don't Forget Me.**_** It's a good read. Stay tuned.**


	27. Seeing Red

Chapter 27: Seeing Red

**Hey guys. Sorry about the massively late update. I had a summer class and my job and then I had to take a final. It was a mess. But I got through it and I now have more time to finish this story and start the next one. Sorry to all those who love Tara, but as you know by this chapter title, she dies. I thought about keeping her, but I couldn't think about how to incorporate her into season 7. Sorry. Hope you enjoy everything else.**

It was early morning and the sun had already risen. Angel was sleeping in his and Buffy's bed with a smile on his face. The sheets looked to be a mess and clothes were strewn all over the floor. He opened his eyes and sat up. He realized that the shower was running. He also realized that Buffy was not in bed with him. He put the pieces together fairly quickly. He got out of bed and started to head towards the bathroom. Unfortunately the shower shut off and Angel was disappointed. After how he professed his undoubtable love for Buffy last night, many times, he was hoping for one more. That didn't seem like it would happen. However there was someone else that Angel had in his life that could make him happy. He turned his head and looked out into the sitting room where Connor was still in his crib. Angel smiled, put on some pants, then walked out to where Connor was. He just stood there staring into the crib, looking at Connor sleeping peacefully. It was hard for Angel to even believe that in some other time, Connor would be sixteen and trying to kill him. Now that wasn't a worry. Angel was happy. He was the happiest he could ever be and there wasn't anything that would take it away from him.

Angel looked back to the bathroom that apparently Buffy was still in and got an idea. He wrote a note to Buffy saying to join him in the kitchen for a good morning breakfast.

He scooped up Connor, who woke up as Angel held him. "Hey there, buddy. Had a nice sleep?" Angel said to his infant son. Connor yawned. Angel smiled. "How about we go make mommy some breakfast to start out day. How about that?" Angel turned to leave with Connor in his arms.

Buffy came out of the bathroom in her robe, her hair damp from the shower she had. She looked around at the empty room and looked confused. "Angel?" She said to no one. She went over to Connor's crib and saw it empty. She looked around frantically for some sign that last night was not the last special night she would spend with her men. She saw the note that Angel left and read it. "Ooo." She said and smiled as she read it. "Looks like I'll be getting good morning breakfast." She put down the note and practically skipped to the closet to get dressed.

…

Delia was sleeping soundly in bed with a smile across her face. The sheets were all ruffled up and the top blanket was on the floor. The sheet was barely enough covering Delia's naked body. She rolled over in the bed and felt the empty space next to her. She opened her eyes and looked at the empty space. She sat up, holding the sheet to cover herself and looked around the rest of the room. Liam, her loving husband, wasn't anywhere in sight. A frown now spread across her face as she recalled Liam saying last night many times, between the many times he showed his love, that he wouldn't leave her. She felt really sad. Her thoughts changed instantly when she heard the toilet flush in the bathroom. Liam stepped out of the bathroom with his sweatpants on. His hair was a bit ruffled up, but who could tell because he kept it short. He looked to Delia and smiled wide at her. She smiled at him too with the same wideness.

"Worried that I left you?" he asked climbing into bed with her.

"Considering that you promised that you wouldn't many time last night and then woke up to you not here, yes." Delia said wrapping her arm around Liam. Liam held Delia and kissed her temple.

"Like I said, I will never leave you. Not ever again." He whispered to her in her ear. His breath being blown into her ear made Delia shiver a bit. Delia cuddled close to Liam.

"I love waking up in the morning next to you." Delia said as her hand roamed around on Liam's scared but barred chest.

"Really, cause I love what we were doing most of last night." Liam smiled mischievously.

Delia smiled too. "Well, that too. But I like having you next to me."

"I will be next to you at all times."

Delia looked up at Liam. "You promise?"

"Promise." Liam kissed his wife. She kissed back and the kiss started to get heated. That is until Delia's stomach started to growl. "Wow. And I thought I was the one who was usually hungry."

"Looks like we have to get out of bed." Delia said with the utmost unenthusiastic tone.

"I can bring you breakfast in bed." Liam offered.

"No. I need to get up and see just how much of my strength I got back."

"I thought you had enough last night." Liam smirked. That got him a playful slap on the chest. "Ok. No breakfast in bed. How about I make your favorite breakfast for when you get downstairs."

Delia suddenly shot up and looked at Liam. "Blueberry pancakes, whipped cream, with bacon and orange juice?"

"With pulp." Liam added with a smile. Delia smiled back and crashed her lips against Liam's, rolling over and straddling Liam. She kept giving Liam fiery kisses and then felt the same feeling she felt many times before last night before Liam showed his love for her. She didn't break the kiss.

"Delia." Liam said through the kiss.

"Hmm?"

"If you want to have that breakfast, I need to get up."

"Later." She said not breaking the kiss.

Liam smiled. "Ok. What about condoms? Ran out midway last night."

Delia broke the kiss and looked at Liam. "Liam, I told you last night. I'm a woman and know when I'm ovulating."

"Which is?"

"Not now."

"Hello." They kissed again and did one more before heading to breakfast.

…

Angel was whistling and making breakfast in the kitchen. He was really happy this morning. Connor was in his high-chair watching his father. Angel was busy making eggs, bacon, and pancakes for his family. Liam opened up the doors to kitchen and was practically bouncing with joy as he walked up to his father.

"Good morning father." Liam greeted happily. "And how are you doing today, Connor?" Liam greeted his brother. Connor smiled and gurgled at him. "Wanna play popcorn? Hunh? Do ya?" Liam bent down in front of Connor, grabbed his tiny feet, and started popping them up down. "Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop." Connor squealed and laughed as Liam played with him. Angel looked over at the scene and smiled even more.

"You're in an awfully good mood." Angel said. "It's a little scary."

"Says the man that got lucky last night." Liam said back as he continued to play with Connor.

If Angel could blush, he would have just now. "You know?"

"Dad you smell like sex."

"Oh." Liam got up and went to the counter to start making Delia her breakfast. "You know I am making breakfast." Angel said noticing Liam gathering ingredients.

"Yes, but Delia wanted her favorite breakfast this morning and I will not deny my wife the food she deserves."

"Is this in anyway payment for what happened between you two last night?" Liam looked to his father. "I can smell it on you too."

"Well, yes and no. It turns out that Delia has been feeling neglected and I realized that it's mostly my fault so I'm making her feel un-neglected." Liam said putting ingredients into a bowl to make the pancakes.

"Smart thing to do. Why did you neglect her?" Angel asked putting strips of bacon on a platter.

"Well, between Connor and Sahjhan and Holtz and Justine and the future, Delia just seemed…." Liam struggled to find the right word.

"Not all that important." Angel finished for him.

Liam faced his father. "She is the most important thing in my life. Yes there is the future that I have to worry about. But it isn't much of a future without her."

"I get that." Angel said putting some bacon and eggs out. "It wouldn't be much of a future for me without your mother."

"But you got Connor."

"I'd still miss her."

"I know the feeling."

Buffy came into the kitchen. Hair dried, clean clothes, and smile spread across her face. "Hello my three lovely men." Buffy greeted them all.

Liam walked over to his mother and greeted her with a kiss and a hug. "Morning mom. How are you?"

"Absolutely wonderful." Buffy said.

"Well I'm glad." Angel said walking over, picking Buffy up and spinning her while kissing her. Liam smiled at the scene. He felt a little uncomfortable doing it, but he was so happy this morning that he didn't really care that his parents were kissing like teenagers. Angel stopped spinning Buffy and let her feet touch the ground.

"Woo, you really are happy." Buffy said, little shocked but happy at the love she was shown by Angel.

"Because I got everything I need with me right here." Connor started to get a little fussy because his chair was turned away from everyone and he couldn't see anyone.

Buffy walked over to Connor. "Hi Connor. You hungry?" Connor immediately had a smile on his face as he saw his mother and held up his hands, wanting to be picked up to be fed. Buffy picked up Connor and held him as she started to breastfeed him.

"You know, I'm in such a good mood not even that will make my smile fade." Liam said. Buffy smirked at him as she fed Connor. Delia walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face and in fresh clothes. "And that will make me smile more." Liam walked over to Delia, grabbed her, bent her over and kissed her full on the lips. Buffy and Angel smiled at their son's happiness with their daughter-in-law. After a few seconds, Liam lifted Delia back up.

"Woo, since when did you get so romantic?" Delia asked.

"I've always been. I just haven't had the pleasure of showing you everything that I can do." Liam replied.

Delia smiled. "Well, so far you exceed my expectations." The two kissed again. "By the way, where's my breakfast?"

"Oh, damn." Liam said as he nearly forgot about Delia's breakfast. He let go of his wife and ran to the counter, just in time to see his father putting the blueberry pancakes on the stove.

"Figured you might need some help." Angel said to his son with a smirk.

"You thought right." Liam said looking relieved. Buffy and Delia laughed at Liam. After making Delia's breakfast and making some of his own, Liam sat down with his family and they all enjoyed what they all believed to be the most normal family breakfast they had ever had in forever. They didn't talk at all about demons, vampires (unless it involved Angel), the future, or anything really supernatural. They all talked about anything that interested the family. Connor's new cute thing of the week. This week was Connor being able to roll. It excited Buffy and Angel because it eventually lead to him walking. If the both of them were excited for Connor to be born, they were even more excited to see him walk. Liam and Delia laughed at the parents and their excitements. Buffy and Angel asked the future couple if they were thinking about having children. This brought faces of shock and worry to Liam and Delia's face as they haven't talked about having kids a whole lot. They were however saved from answering by the timely arrival of rest of the A.I. team that entered the kitchen, minus Cordelia.

"Good morning ya'll." Fred greeted them all cheerfully.

"Morning." Both Liam and Delia said at the same time, glad with the sudden appearance of the A.I. team.

"Morning everyone." Angel greeted.

"Morning. Help yourself." Buffy offered the platefuls of eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

"What's all this?" Wesley asked eyeing the breakfast buffet they had.

"A little something we like to call, a good morning breakfast without interruptions." Buffy answered with a smile.

"No demons." Angel said.

"No kidnappers." Liam said.

"No future thing we have to worry about at the moment." Delia said.

Buffy started to pour herself some orange juice. "So we are having a very normal and well deserved, non-demony breakfast." She finished pouring and held the cup up to her lips. "You're all more than welcome to join us." She began to drink.

"I don't know about the rest of ya'll, but free good food makes me hungry." Gun said as he eagerly went for a plate and started gathering up as much food as his plate would be able to carry.

"Well, I say under the circumstances, we all do deserve a celebration breakfast." Wesley said getting a plate.

Fred followed suit, getting a plate and sitting down next to Gunn who was about half way through his plate. "I agree. What with dealing with Wolfram and Hart, saving Connor, saving Delia, and stopping Wesley from betraying us, it's nice to have a nice normal breakfast every now and then."

"Amen." Gunn said though a mouthful.

Liam put some egg into his mouth and chewed. As he did this, he looked around at the occupants of the table and noticed a head missing. Actually three. "Where's Cordy, Groo, and Lorne?" Liam asked.

"Lorne left last night and went off to Vegas to become a singer." Angel informed them all.

"Wow. Not all that surprising really but still sorta surprising." Delia said taking a bite of her pancakes. She smiled at the deliciousness of her food and smiled at Liam who smiled back.

"You think we can go see him some time?" Fred asked.

"Of course we can." Wesley said. "We all should. He is our friend and we should go to show our support."

"I'm with Wesley. We should go see him." Buffy agreed.

"Maybe we can do it as a summer thing." Liam offered. "Once we get everything settled, we should go and see him once he's a big star."

"I'm down with going to Vegas." Gunn said. "Wouldn't mind some time at them casinos."

"I can be good at black jack." Fred said. "So long as I hide my card counting, I can be really good."

"Well it looks like everyone has their plans for Vegas set." Angel said.

"What about Cordy?" Liam asked.

"Not sure." Wesley said eating some bacon. "I called her apartment to check in on her but there was no answer."

"She and Groo are probably cum-shucking it after everything's that happened." Gunn suggested smiling. "I know we all did." Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Gunn. Fred looked at him with a look of horror and frustration. Gunn looked up at them all staring at him. "What? Like after everything that's happened you guys just sat in your rooms and watched TV?" Wesley casually drank his glass of orange juice while everyone else who was lucky last night turned a bit red. "Exactly."

"Well anyway, I think we all should go to her apartment before we leave just to make sure she's alright." Liam said.

"Leave? Are you going back to the future?" Fred asked.

"Not yet. But Angel, Buffy, Connor, Liam and I are heading to Sunnydale to deal with the Trio." Delia said.

"What about the future? Does everything we just did mean that it's safe?" Wesley asked. Everyone looked towards Liam for an answer.

"Not sure yet." Liam gave his honest answer. "It may seem like it but Delia and I will have to research and make sure that everything's alright."

"Can we do it some other time? I don't wanna dive into research so soon after nearly dying." Delia said.

"Just say when." Liam said rubbing her back and giving her a kiss on the temple.

"But we don't have to worry about anything, right?" Gunn asked. "Cause I don't wanna wake up one day and find out you guys caused an ape apocalypse."

"I think you're safe." Liam said.

…

After everyone finished up breakfast, The Summers family went to Cordy's apartment to check in on her. Buffy held Connor as they approached the apartment. Liam knocked on the door. There was no answer. Liam knocked again. Still no answer.

"Think we should come back another time?" Buffy asked.

"I'm not leaving until we know Cordy's alright." Angel said.

"Then how do suppose we find out when she isn't answering her phone and nobody's answering the door?" Delia asked.

"Guys." Liam got all of their attentions. He looked to the door and waved his hand in front of it. The door lock instantly clicked and the door swung open. "Look at that. Doors open." He stepped inside. Delia nodded and followed suit.

"Isn't this breaking and entering? Or trespassing?" Buffy asked.

"Door was open." Angel said with a shrug and stepped inside. Buffy sighed and followed them while holding Connor in her arms. They all began looking around the apartment. "Search for anything that could indicate where they may have gone." Angel instructed before heading to the bedroom. Delia opened up the bathroom and looked inside. Liam went to the kitchen and checked the refrigerator.

"I don't think Cordelia and Groo would hide in a refrigerator." Buffy told her son.

"A lot can be told by looking in the most inconvenient places." Liam said as he closed the refrigerator. "Like the fact that some of this food was recently bought and not packed up. If Cordy and Groo left, they obviously did not need the food they bought."

"And how does that help?"

"Well it could mean that if they left for a couple's get away or something, it was pretty last minute notice."

"Oh." Now Buffy felt stupid for not even considering the fact that Cordelia and Groo could have left all of a sudden for a last minute couples get-away.

"But my question is, why didn't they tell us?"

"Maybe they didn't want to bother us."

"Nah. Cordelia would at least let us know she was alright before going on any trip."

"Well she didn't go on one of those." Delia said reappearing from the bathroom.

"What makes you say that?" Buffy asked.

Delia held up a toothbrush. "Her toothbrush is still here."

"Maybe she forgot it." Liam suggested.

"As are her cosmetics." Delia added.

"That doesn't sound like Cordy." Buffy and Liam said at the same time.

"Also it's the only one in the bathroom."

"Which means Groo's isn't here." Liam deduced.

"Neither is his stuff." Angel said coming from the bedroom. "Cordy's clothes are here. But I can't seem to find Groo's belongings. I checked the closet. Some suitcases are missing."

"So, what? Groo packed up and left and Cordy went after him?" Buffy asked sounding worried.

"That would certainly coincide with this. Look here." Liam said holding a brochure. "Looks like Groo had intentions of heading off to Silver Lake."

"You think Cordy went with him?"

"Possibly. I don't know. Maybe he found a way to buy them both a home for each other. Call it their own."

"Then why would Cordy leave all her stuff here?" Angel asked.

"Maybe it was a surprise for her. Groo and Cordy are at their new place. Groo brought his stuff and surprised her." Liam theorized.

"Does sound like something Groo might do." Buffy said.

"For a guy who hasn't been on this earth long enough to understand a mortgage, he really went the extra mile." Delia said sounding impressed.

"Should we go and check in on them?" Buffy asked.

"Knowing those two, they might want some quality time together. I wouldn't bother them." Liam said looking down at the brochure.

"I'll call the team and let them know what's going on." Angel said pulling out his phone.

"Can you do that on the way down? I really want to go back to Sunnydale." Buffy said. They all made their way to leave Cordy's apartment. Angel called up his team and started to tell them about Cordy and Groo's situation. Liam stayed in the apartment as the rest left and Delia hung back at the door.

"Liam? You ok?" Delia asked.

Liam put the brochure down and turned to his wife with a smile. "Yeah. Great." He said and followed her out. Liam hung at the door and looked around at the empty apartment. He frowned at the emptiness and sighed sadly. "See you when you get back." He said to no one there. Liam closed the door and left the apartment.

…

Angel ran through the front door of the Summers home in Sunnydale with a heavy blanket over him, covering him from the sunlight since it was still daylight outside. Dawn, Tara, And Willow were in the living room when Angel burst through the door and they all looked at him.

"Angel." Dawn said happily, shot up, and went over to give him a hug.

"Hi Dawn." Angel greeted her.

"Where are the rest?" Tara asked.

Not two seconds later, Buffy came in carrying Connor and a single small bag. "Hi, we're home." Buffy said. Dawn hugged her and Connor as they entered. Willow and Tara came from the living room and hugged their friends.

"We were getting worried." Willow informed her best friend. "We expected you all to come back when we did but you didn't. And then you called saying something about slugs and then Delia being kidnapped and we thought maybe we should come and help."

Buffy put the small bag down in the foyer. "Thanks Willow, but we got it under control. We stopped the slugs, saved Delia, stopped the evil bitch that killed us in the future, and I had a great night last night." She turned to Angel and gave him a very giddy smile. Angel smiled back.

"That's great. I'm glad you two had a good night. Seems like everyone is." Dawn said eyeing Willow and Tara who both blushed.

"So, where are Liam and Delia?" Tara asked trying to start a new topic.

"They're coming in." Buffy said. The door opened right after that and Delia came in, followed by Liam who carried _all_ of the luggage that they packed. He had two big suitcases in each hand, two under each arm, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder, and another bag with a sling in his mouth and dangling down his front. Everyone made room for him to come into the house. As soon as Liam came in and Delia closed the door, Liam dropped everything to the floor.

He turned to face all of them with a not so happy look. "Ok, when I offered to carry the bags, I did it to sound nice. I didn't actually mean it." He said to them.

"Well you would have ended up with the bags anyway." Buffy said with a smile.

"I'd burn up." Angel pointed out. Him too with a smile.

"I have a baby." Buffy said.

"I'm still a little weak." Delia said.

"So that leaves you." Angel said patting his son on the back. Liam turned his head to Angel and glared at him.

"You're lugging it all upstairs." Liam countered.

"We'll see."

After a beat. "So…Connor's safe, Buffy and Angel our alive, Wesley isn't a traitor, what does that mean for the future?" Willow asked.

"Well, it looks like the future is looking brighter." Liam said.

"Oh, so that means that you'll be going back to the future soon?" Dawn asked sadly. Willow also had an expression of sadness. Both she and Dawn got to know Liam since he came from the future and they found out who he was. They were glad to know him and have him around. Now knowing that he might go back to the future and leave well….it was sad for them.

Liam looked at his aunt caringly and moved so that he was in front of her. "Yes, it might mean that we will go back." He told her the truth. Dawn looked sadly. Liam put a finger to her chin and lifted her head to face his. She looked very sad. "But with the future, you never know. We could be here years before we know for sure that the future is safe." This brought a smile to Dawn's face and she hugged her nephew, who hugged her back with a smile. Buffy and Angel smiled at the scene, as did everyone else.

The door opened up and Faith came in with small stack of papers in hand. She looked really irritated and her red leather jacket had a big gash in it, just deep enough to cut the fabric but not her flesh. She stopped when she saw the new arrivals.

"Nice of you guys to pop on by." She said to them.

"Aunt Faith." Liam greeted her happily and hugged her. "How are you?"

"Frustrated." Faith responded pulling out of the hug.

Delia noticed her leather jacket. "What happened to you?"

"One of the reasons why I'm frustrated. I just came back from the nerd cave."

"We found a concealed video cameras in just about every place we hang out in." Willow explained to the family.

"Ok. Creepy." Delia said.

"I tracked the signal and found the place where they are."

"Well, I found their lair, but they obviously knew we were tracing their signal. They left in a hurry. Van was gone, but everything else was still there." Faith said.

"We should go back, uh, Tara and I can Sherlock around-"

"There's nothing left there now. Giant buzz saw. It was a thing." Faith held up the papers she was carrying. "This was all that I could save. I know it's not much, but I think we should go through it and see if we can find anything that might tell us what they're doing, where they're going..."

Tara picked up a large book. It has a buzz-saw cut right across the middle, and it fell in half as she picked it up. "Um, this might take a while."

"Anything we can do to fast forward? We really need to find Warren and the others before anyone else gets hurt." Buffy said.

"Should we call Xander?" Willow asked.

"I don't know. He's still pretty down after the thing with Anya." Tara said.

"Thought I gave that kid hope that he'll get married." Liam said.

"You did, but he still wants Anya back."

Liam shook his head. "Kids got devotion, I'll give him that."

…

At the bronze, several people were by the bar as the bartender poured drinks. Xander was sitting at the end of the bar. He tried going back to Anya a number of times, but he still felt very guilty for leaving her at the altar on their wedding day. Most days now that he sees her, he sees her through the Magic Shops window, watching her dust and sell items to costumers. She was also taking it hard. She wanted to marry Xander and would apparently only take him back if he would marry her. He didn't want too. He was too scared.

The bartender poured a shot into Xander's glass. Some of it misses the glass and splashes on Xander's hand. A woman next to Xander looked over at him. "You're all wet." She informed him and pushed a cocktail napkin toward him.

Xander wiped his hand with the napkin. "It's a good thing I'm part fish." He said.

"Which part?" she asked smiling.

"The part with the hook in it."

"Careful. Someone might reel you in."

"Yeah, but then there'd be the flopping and the ... gasping, and ... sure, maybe it'd work out, but chances are I'd up and leave you at the helm in your white dress. Then comes the fighting and again with the flopping and the gasping, 'cause hey , Chicken of the Sea here's not doing too good with the women these days."

"Huh?"

"Sorry, I'm just looking to curl up with the quiet alone tonight." The woman looked disappointed and turned away. Xander concentrated on his drink.

At the entrance, Warren, Andrew, and Johnathon enter looking around. Jonathan looked at his watch. "We don't have time for this." He says irritated.

"Ease up, twitchy." Andrew said.

Warren looked around and spot something. "All right." He sees a tall guy and a pretty girl smiling into each other's eyes, holding hands. "Let's make some noise." Warren walked forward. Andrew watched excitedly. Jonathan looked nervous.

…

The rest of the Scoobies were at the Summers home looking over the papers and stuff Faith took from their lair. Angel was holding a sleeping Connor in his arms and pacing around the room. Buffy was on the couch looking at the papers. Dawn was sitting next to her eating. Tara and Willow were in the armchairs also looking at the papers on the coffee table. Liam was leaning on the wall looking through a few papers in his hands. Delia sat in a chair pulled up from the kitchen looking at the papers he had. Faith was sitting on the floor looking through the papers as well, but at a very slow pace.

Faith slammed her hands on the table. "Dammit." She said loudly causing everyone to jolt up. Connor woke up and began to cry. "Sorry. Sorry." She apologized.

"It's ok Faith. I'll go calm him down and put him to bed." Angel said and started making his way to the stairs while singing _Sleepsong_ to Connor to quite him.

"Faith, is everything ok?" Buffy asked concerned.

"Fine. Just need some air." Faith said standing up and walking out. Liam and Buffy put their papers down and followed after her.

Delia turned to Willow, Dawn, and Tara. "Is there something I should know?" she asked them. They all shared a look of worry on their faces.

…

Outside, Faith was strutting down the street with an angry look on her face. Liam and Buffy followed behind her.

"Faith." Buffy called out to her. She didn't register her.

"Aunt Faith." Liam called her.

Faith whirled around to face him. "How did we do it?" She demanded from him.

"What?" Liam asked perplexed.

"How did me and Spike do it? You showed me a vision, a memory of the future and Spike and I get married and have a kid. But how did we work out? We're together now and we fight. It's what we do. We fight even about the most stupidest things. How do we work out?" Liam stayed silent and placed a hand over his mouth trying to think of what exactly to say. He knew the true reason why Faith and Spike worked out, but it wouldn't help them now without Spike first getting something he needed.

"You and Spike….you and Spike just talked." Liam told her half the truth.

"We talked?" Faith asked.

"Yeah. You guys just talk to each other. Look Faith….I don't know exactly what happened before I was born. What you guys did to work out your relationship. But when I was growing up, you and Spike had a fight, you both calmed down, and you talk it out. Maybe it's your level of maturity. I don't know. I just know that you guys were happy together in the future." After a beat. "I just wanted to give that to you guys now."

Faith sniffled a little and hugged herself. "Yeah well, we were happy. But now…I don't know. Are we falling for each other because we're meant to be? Or is it because you say so?"

"Faith you can't talk like that." Buffy said.

"But we don't know. Sometimes we fight about whether we love each other as much as the other does."

Liam shrugged "Welcome to relationships." Faith looked away from him. Liam sighed. "Faith, you Spike will work out. Trust me." Faith didn't look all that convinced.

"How do you do it?" Faith asked Buffy. "How do you and Angel not have fights?"

"We have fights."

"Only when he's Angelus or when it's life and death. Other than that, you guys don't fight. Why do Spike and I?"

"Do you love him?" Liam asked.

"What? Why ask…"

"Do….you love him?" Liam interrupted.

Faith to a second before answering. "I love him! I love the neutered freak of nature!"

"And I have a feeling that he loves you, just the same. Minus the neutered part."

"Then why do we fight?"

"Because you love each other." Buffy said.

"Well, THAT makes a whole lot of sense."

"Actually it does. Faith, unconditional love is very simple when you just accept it. It doesn't matter what happens between you, what you guys say, what you do. If you too love each other, then you'll be with each other. Through the fights and the tears. If you two truly love each other, you end up together."

"Faith, when Delia and I first started dating, before we got together, I couldn't stand her." Liam explained.

"Really?" Faith asked.

"Really." Liam chuckled. "We never really fought unless it was sparing in the future before we started dating. But once we did…whoa. She was very emotional and demanding. She really expected a lot from me. And with my track record with relationships, she was my first real girlfriend ever so I didn't know how to be a boyfriend. Not to mention her jealously level is one that can be compete with dads. I helped a woman pick up something's she dropped and instantly started a conversation with her. Delia thought I was cheating."

"How did you guys work it out?"

Liam looked over to Buffy. "Picked up something from my parents." Buffy smiled at him. He turned back to faith. "Their love can actually be made into a book or a TV show." Faith and Buffy snickered at the comment. "Every relationship is different. Everyone. You can't help your relationship by looking at someone else's. It's all what you do."

"You got that from your parents?"

"They were in love. And they didn't go to some shrink or some other couple for advice on how to fix their problems. Granted their problems aren't exactly everyday couple's problems. Losing souls, killing friends, can't have sex. But they still work it out because they love each other. And when you love someone, the only thing that would keep you guys apart, is yourselves and the choices you make. And that's how Delia and I worked out. I loved her. So it didn't matter what she does that made me so pissed off with her. I compromise with her on things and quite frankly, I'd rather say I'm sorry and please forgive me to her no matter what the argument was or even if I know that I'm right. I hate fighting with her and I hate not having her in my life. If you truly love Spike, it'll work out on its own. Just give it time and just talk to him." Faith smiled and nodded to the both of them, feeling better. "Where is he anyway?"

"He's back at our apartment."

"Go to him. Talk it out."

"Lock the doors and don't leave the apartment until you guys talk it out." Buffy demanded. If I have to, Angel and I will go to you apartment and ceil you both inside until you talk."

Faith chuckled. "Ok. I'll do it. Thanks guys."

"Anything for family." Liam said and hugged his favorite aunt. Buffy hugged her next and Faith left them to go talk to Spike.

…

At the Bronze, Andrew and Jonathan were walking beside the bar. Jonathan looked nervous. Andrew held a glass of something involving fruit and a little paper umbrella.

"What are we doing here? Somebody might recognize us." Johnathon said nervously. He looked and spotted something. "Oh, oh, that's just great." H saw Warren talking to the woman we saw with another guy before. "We're risking everything so that Charles Atlas can get a date? He's going to end up getting us thrown into jail. Or worse. Maybe you and I should think about-

"Warren's the boss." Andrew interrupted. "He's Picard, you're Deanna Troi. Get used to the feeling, Betazoid." Andrew walked away. Jonathan stared after him in dismay.

Warren kept talking to the girl. "...the clothes, the cars, and the money ... see, it's all just window dressing." He stroked the side of the girl's face. She didn't look too thrilled with that. "Baby, this is what's really important." He held her hand. "Two souls, coming together…"

"Hey!" The girl's boyfriend returned and got in Warren's face. He was much larger than Warren. "She only comes together with me. So get lost, shrimp. The girlfriend looked amused.

"Frankie? Oh my god, is that you? How long has it been?" Frank stared down at Warren in confusion. "It's Warren! Remember, Warren, gym class, fifth period? You and your jock buddies used to give me such a hard time." Frank started to smile. "That thing with the underwear? God, I thought I'd never stop crying.

"That was you?" Frank asked grinning.

"Yeah, that was me! But hey, no hard feelings. I mean, I know you were just fooling around. Like I'm gonna be with your girl in about five minutes."

"What'd you say?"

"You heard me, meathead. Take a walk."

"Oh, you're dead, you little…" Frank grabbed Warren by the shoulders to shove him away, but couldn't budge him. Frank frowned. He tried several times to push Warren away, but he couldn't.

"This ain't high school." Warren shoved Frank in the chest with one hand, and Frank flew backward, crashing into some people. The girlfriend looked alarmed. Another large guy moved toward Warren. Warren turned to face him. As the guy threw a punch, Warren grabbed his wrist, immobilizing it, then jerked it to the side, breaking the arm. The guy fell to the floor.

Warren turned to find the girl, just as she started running away. Warren sighed in annoyance. Another guy hit Warren in the back with a chair. The chair shattered. The guy stared at the pieces in surprise as Warren turned around to face him. Warren backhanded the guy and he flew across the bar-top and off the other side. Andrew watched this casually, sipping his fruity drink.

"Let's party." Warren said strolling forward and clasping Andrew's arm briefly, walking right past Jonathan without even acknowledging him. He went over to the bar where a bunch of pretty women were sitting, watching him. "Oh, don't worry about the tab, now, ladies. It's on daddy tonight." He slammed his fist down on the cash register, causing the drawer to open. Warren reached across to take out some money.

Xander emerged from the men's room and stopped when he caught sight of Warren. Warren turned away from the cash register with a handful of money. "Don't worry, babies. Daddy's gonna give you some too."

Xander walked over to him. "See now, I think it's the daddy thing that's throwing her. 'Cause incest, not that sexy." Xander and Warren got into each other's faces as Andrew watched and Jonathan covered his face with his hand.

"Aw, crap." Warren said.

"So, uh, why don't we leave the ladies to their impending nausea and move the freakshow outside, whaddaya say?"

Warren nodded. "Okay. But lemme ask you something first. You think maybe you could put in a word for me with that Anya chick?" Xander punched Warren square in the face. Warren barely even moved. Xander clutched his hand in pain. "You hit like a girl."

"Well, at least I know how to get one." Xander said painfully. Warren scowled angrily and punched Xander. Xander flew backward across the room, landing on the floor on his back. He laid on the floor groaning in pain. Warren walked quickly toward him, shoving a pool table out of the way as if it were nothing. Xander was bleeding from his nose, blood running down his face.

"Let's see how popular you are without a face."

Jonathan hurried over and grabbed Warren's arm. "Warren, we have to go."

"We go when I'm ready."

"Hey, it's your call, but ..." Johnathon showed Warren his watch. "we're gonna miss that thing you wanted to do tonight if we don't leave right now. That's all I'm saying."

Warren sighed and nodded reluctantly. He bent over a little to address Xander. "It's your lucky night, Shemp."

"We're just gonna leave him there? What if he sics the Slayer on us?" Andrew asked.

"Bring her on." Warren turned and walked off. Andrew followed casually. Jonathan made a little apologetic hand-gesture at Xander, and followed the others.

…

Liam was in the Summers kitchen making himself a cup of coffee. He poured some in a cup and drank some with a smile.

"Aww, that's good coffee." He said.

"Glad you are enjoying it." Delia said coming into the kitchen.

"Hey honey."

"Hey."

"Research getting slow?"

"Nah. Same pace as usual."

"At least it's something we don't have to be totally worried about. They're just nerds."

"But they're still dangerous."

"But not as." Liam pointed out. Delia nodded and looked down. "Something on your mind?"

Delia looked back up. "Just thinking about going to England and researching the orb and everything."

Liam set his cup of coffee down. "What about it?"

"Just wondering when we should go."

"We're going this summer. We'll hang out with the family just a bit and then go off on a vacation. So we tell them." Liam took a sip of coffee.

"Why don't we tell them?"

"Because I don't want them involved yet. All we're doing is finding out where it is. Once we do we can involve everyone else. My parents just went through almost losing their first born. I'm not going to make them paranoid with an impending doom that's 30 years away."

"So we're just going to keep them in the dark?"

"For now. I want to be careful about all this. One small slip up and we could change the future and in way we don't want it to."

"But with their help, we could get it done sooner."

"Slow and steady win the race." Liam took another sip of coffee.

"But I want this to be over so we can go back and have our family. Buffy asked us if we want kids. I do. Do you?"

"Of course I do." Liam reassured her and came around to hold her. "You know I do. But I'd prefer they live in a world where there is blue skies instead of red ones."

"Ok. It's just that…we took care of Connor alone sometimes and….I want that to be our child."

"We'll have one. Just have patients. Ok?" Liam kissed her forehead.

"Ok." They both kissed each other.

"Come on. We got nerds to find and wedgie." Liam led them both back into the living room where everyone was watching some TV. Liam asked for Connor and Buffy gave him to him. Just then, Xander entered to Summers house, with his face still all bloody. Angel, Buffy, Delia, and Liam holding Connor all looked up at the new arrival and noticed his bloody face.

"Xander what happened?" Buffy asked first getting up and going over to him.

"Oh, hey you're back. Everything good." Xander said.

"Forget that, what the hell happened to your face?" Liam asked. "And I don't mean that to be an insult."

"I found Warren. Or rather my face kinda did." Xander said.

"He did that to you?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, and he's strong. Wicked strong. Like Superman strong."

"So we beat him with Kryptonite?" Delia asked.

"What I wanna know is how he got to be so strong in the first place." Liam said.

"Well he wasn't all hulked out, but he was able to fool a bunch of jocks he knew from high school before taking them all out like they were nothing. Where was that strength when I was in high school? Coulda helped me out."

"Better for everyone that mom was the super strong one."

The door opened up again and Willow came in smiling. "Hey, I think we finally have something…" She paused when she saw Xander's bloody face and Buffy's bruised condition. Buffy quickly pulls her robe down to hide the bruise on her leg. "What happened?"

"Warren is apparently strong and beat up Xander." Delia informed her.

"How'd he do that?"

"That's what puzzles me." Liam said. "How can a nerd who lives on the hellmouth somehow find a way to get super strength, and I just realized that that question answers itself." Buffy and Delia both nodded towards him.

"What did you find out?" Angel asked Willow.

…

Buffy sat at the table with Willow and Tara. Liam was hunched over Willow looking at her laptop. Xander stands nearby holding an ice pack against his face. Angel and Delis stood off to the side with Delia holding Connor. The table was covered with the papers and books from the Geek lair.

"We were able to decipher pretty much everything except these." Willow held up a set of papers with weird symbols on them.

"It isn't written in any ancient language we could identify." Tara said.

Xander and Liam both looked at them. "It's Klingon." They both said. Everyone stared at them. Xander especially stared at Liam with an amused look on his face.

"So…you're a Star Trek geek." Xander said patting Liam on the back.

"No I'm not." Liam said. "You're son is a bit. He had the bright idea to send secret code messages in Klingon so that no one could decipher it. Everyone was so busy with current languages and computer numbers that they never thought to think of a made up language from the sixties."

"How come I never used?" Delia asked.

"Because after about two months of using it, it was decrypted by a geek in the Crow's nest who loved Star Trek. Told him that we shouldn't have used it."

"Well this has nothing to do with the insidious scheme you're about to describe. They're just love poems."

"What do you got for me that doesn't rhyme?" Buffy asked.

"Um, this." Tara said holding up a CD-ROM.

"It was filled with encoded blueprints and schematics." Willow said handing Buffy a pile of papers.

"To what?" Angel asked.

"Um, banks, armored car routes, corporate vaults ... This is big." Tara said.

"They're looking to score some serious dinero." Liam said.

"We don't think they're planning just one job." Willow said.

"I, I can't cover all of these at once." Buffy said looking at all of the schmatics.

"Let me see." Liam said taking the schematics and looking them over. "I don't think you'll have to. Looks like there's one they may hit tonight.

"It's time sensitive." Tara pointed out.

"Great, so we go and stop them from stealing pounds of money." Angel said.

"Got a plan there Angel? Warren's gone all Mighty Mouse. Emphasis on the might.

"Good. Then I won't have to hold back." Liam, Buffy, and Angel all said at the same time. Everyone else stared at them. They gave no acknowledgement to what they just said.

…

Buffy, Angel, and Liam left the Summers house to go deal with the Trio. They would be hitting an amusement park tonight so all three of them were ready for whatever would come. Once they arrived, they saw Warren was turning over a truck.

"You guys find Johnathon and Andrew. I'll deal with supernerd." Buffy ordered. The men nodded and went in a different direction. They both saw Andrew and Johnathon off to the side watching Warren steal the money from the truck. Angel and Liam snuck up behind them and grabbed them, holing hands oer their mouths to keep them silent. Angel held Johnathon while Liam held Andrew.

"One sound and I pick which 13 different ways to kill you silently." Liam threatened to a struggling Andrew. Instantly both of them stopped struggling and stayed perfectly still.

Buffy ran and silently landed on top of the overturned truck. "Hey." Buffy called just as Warren pulled the armored car doors off. Warren stared up at her. "Is this your bank? Cause if not, there's gonna be a fee for that." She started to leap down at Warren. He reacts, puts up his arms and catches her as she falls toward him. He throws her backward over his head. She lands on the ground several yards away, and gets up again.

"I was wondering when Super Bitch would show up." Warren said striding over to her.

"You really got a problem with strong women, don't you?"

"Nothing I can't handle." Warren threw a punch and Buffy ducked it, but the second caught her in the face. Warren blocked her punch, holding her arm and hit her with his other hand. They exchanged a few blows and Buffy went down. "You seem a little off. This a bad day?"

Buffy got back up. "It's getting better." She landed several strong kicks in a row, grabbed Warren and flipped over him, kicking him from behind. He went down and immediately rolled back to his feet. Buffy grabbed the large metal door that Warren ripped off the truck, and hit him with it. He stumbled into the stone gate, hard. Bits of plaster dust fell on his head.

"That all you got?" He looked up a moment too late as the stone gate collapsed, a pile of stone and rubble falling right on Warren's head, engulfing him.

"No!" Andrew cried out and Liam shushed him. Jonathan stared in dismay.

Buffy looked over at the other two geeks who were being held by Angel and Liam. "There's two ways this can end. And right now? I'm thinking they're both gonna hurt." She told them.

Andrew suddenly started to smile. "I think you're right." Liam and Angel both looked where Andrew was and stared too, stunned.

Buffy turned around to see Warren emerging from the rubble. "What's the matter baby? You never fight a real man before?" Warren swung and landed two strong punches on Buffy before she ducked the third and kicked him. He blocked her swing, landing several more punches. Buffy grabbed his hand and twisted around, holding Warren's arm behind him and kicking him in the stomach. She ducked another punch and kicked him. He fell against the overturned armored truck. Buffy watched as Warren pulled himself upright again. "Wow. That almost hurt, kitten." Buffy kicked him and punched him several times, with little effect. Warren grabbed her and slammed down on her arm. Buffy made an expression of pain. Both Angel and Liam made expressions of anger. Warren kicked her backward, and grabbed her again.

"Kill her! Kill her!" Andrew cheered. Liam jerked Andrews head up, silencing him.

"Keep cheering and I break your neck." Liam warned. He looked back at the fighting and saw that his mother wasn't doing well. "We have to do something." He told his father.

"Buffy can handle herself fine." Angel said. Warren continued beating on Buffy. He got her legs out from under her and she went down. "However I've been wrong before."

"Hold him." Liam told his father and handed Andrew to Angel. Angel held both geeks in nelson locks while Liam walked forward looking for an opening.

"You know who I am? Huh, Slayer?" Warren asked.

"You're a murderer." Buffy said getting up off the ground.

"Well, that too, but more to the point…" Buffy swung at him, he blocked the punch and backhanded her. "I'm the guy that beat you." Again she swings and again he blocked and hit her. Buffy reeled backward, looking shocked. "And it's not the muscles, baby." He kicked her backward. "It's the brains."

"Wanna put it to the test?" Warren heard from behind him. He turned and saw Liam standing there.

"Hey, I know you. You're the guy that asked to make a robot of her." Warren indicated to Buffy. "Did she satisfy you enough or did you prefer the real thing?"

"Ok. One, the proper term is android. And two, I do prefer the real thing over a fake. And three, you're a perv."

"Well what guy isn't?" Liam didn't answer. "So you gonna fight me now?"

"That's the idea."

"Bad idea." Warren rushed at Liam and tried to punch him. Liam easily side-stepped Warren. Warren quickly registered what Liam did and tried punching him again. Liam easily dodged the blow quickly. Warren tried punching Liam several times but Liam easily dodged every blow like it was nothing. Warren started getting frustrated. Warren threw a punch and Liam dodged it, grabbed Warrens arm, and used it as a step to roll over Warren's back and land behind him.

"All you have in strength. But you defiantly do not have brains." Liam taunted. Warren threw and punch and Liam dodged it once again. "I know girl scouts with more fire in them than you." Warren threw more punches at Liam and he dodged each one effortlessly. "You have no skill. No training in you what so ever."

"Don't need it." Warren said and raised both his fists and slammed them on the ground, creating a shockwave. The shockwave was so powerful it knocked Buffy and Angel, who was still holding the geeks, to the ground. Liam however anticipated the move and jumped in the air just as Warren slammed his fists on the ground. Liam flipped in the air and landed hands first o Warrens shoulders in a handstand.

"Come on. Fight me." Liam said smiling and flipped off of Warren, landing behind him and kicking him in the back.

"Oh, so now you fight?"

"Just getting warmed up." Liam lifted his fist in front of him and a blue glow emanated from it. "I've been saving this for just the right asshole."

"A supercharged fist?"

"A magically supercharged fist. Courtesy of my favorite witch."

"We'll see how powerful it is." Warren rushed at Liam and Liam rushed at Warren. They both screamed a battle cry as they threw their punches and their fists collided with each other. The collision sent another shockwave that toppled everyone to the ground again. Dust rose into the air from the impacted. Everyone got back to their feet and stares at the dust that was slowly falling to the ground. They were stunned to see both Warren and Liam in the same position they were in when their fists collided. Neither of them seemed to be the least bit affected by the blast. Both had on expressions and seriousness and determination. Liam suddenly went from determined to a painful expression quickly and reeled back his fist, holding it, and screaming in pain. His hand was bloody and clearly broken. A couple of fingers were twisted the wrong way. Liam crumpled in the fiddle position while holding his bloody hand and gasping in pain. Warren stared down at him with an amused expression. "Pussy." Warren called him.

"Yes you are." Warren heard from behind him. He turned just as Buffy landed a powerful roundhouse to his temple. He stumbled back several feet. Buffy kicked him again. "You hurt my family. Now I hurt you." Next thing Buffy knew, Jonathan as on her back. Buffy grunted and stumbled forward, trying to pry him off.

"Whoa! Sparky, I didn't think you had it in you." Warren said amused.

"The orbs! Smash his orbs." Jonathan whispered. Then he was gone. Angel had yanked him off of her. Then Warren was on her again. He was stronger than she had first anticipated. He kicked her into a bench and she turned around to see him coming up to her.

"Say goodnight bitch." Warren pulled his fist back for a final punch. This pulled his jacket back, revealing the pouch on his belt. Buffy saw it. Before Warren could move, she lunged forward, grabbed the pouch, and slammed it against the ground. Blue light flashed, suffusing Warren, then leaving him and shooting toward the smashed orbs. Warren looked dazed. Buffy stood up.

"Goodnight bitch." Then she kicked him full force in the stomach and he went flying back. Angel released Jonathan and went over to Liam who was still on the ground, clutching his bloody hand in pain. Warren stood painfully with his comrades. Buffy advanced towards him.  
"You're nothing but a sad little boy, Warren. But it's time you grow up, and pay for what you've done."

"Get away from me!" He pulled off his jacket, revealing an apparatus strapped to his body, including a pair of silvery tanks on his back. "I swear to god I'm gonna take you down. You piece of..." Buffy stared in disbelief as Warren pulled a switch and the jet-pack activates, lifting him straight up into the air. Buffy looked up after him.

"Oh COME ON!"

"Well played, Slayer!" Andrew said. He pulled off his jacket, revealing an identical jet-pack. Buffy couldn't believe it.

"Why didn't I get one of those?!" Johnathon whined.

"This round to you. But the game is far from over." Andrew told Buffy ignoring Johnathon. Andrew activated his jet-pack and lifts off as Buffy and Jonathan stare. But Andrew was standing underneath a roof overhang. He hit it with his head, hard, and fell to the ground unconscious. Jonathan stared apprehensively at Buffy. Buffy stifled a laugh as the cops' sirens started.

"Buffy!" Angel called to her. Buffy turned around and remembered that Liam was injured and needed medical attention. Liam gritted his teeth and grunted as he tried to hold back the pain that he was receiving from his hand. Buffy ran over to him and crouched by him. "We need to take him to the hospital."

"Let's move." Buffy said. With little effort, the parents managed to haul Liam up and helped him walk to the emergency room.

…

Liam was sitting on the couch in the Summers living room while Delia his left, holding his good hand, and hid right hand which was in a cast was sticking out in front of him, being magically treated by both Willow and Tara. They held each other's hands and had the others hovering over Liam's cast, chanting an incantation that was the exact same one Liam used to heal Delia's and Wesley's wounds. Buffy stood by Liam holding Connor and Angel was behind her. Dawn and Xander sat in the armchairs. All of them watching. Liam had been to the emergency room and the doctors were able to a cast over his injured hand and set a number of bones back into place. They said it would take a couple of months for it to fully heal. But Liam had some super healing in hi and with some magical help, hopefully it would take even less time.

Willow and Tara finished the incantation and lowered their hands. They didn't let go of each other though. "Ok, we've managed to heal it the best we could." Willow explained.

"But it's still pretty bad and could take a couple weeks to properly heal." Tara finished.

"Couple weeks? Great. What the hell am I supposed to do to fight demons for the next couple weeks without my freakin' hand?" Liam asked angrily waving his cast around. "This is my dominant hand. The hand I write, shoot, swing, shake, and punch with. I can't do those things with my left."

"Sure you can baby." Delia tried to encourage him.

"Yeah. But not that well."

"Well at least it's your hand and not your neck." Buffy said trying to look on the positive side.

"Or your face." Xander added on. Liam glared at him. Xander shut up.

"Ok, so two geeks are in jail. One's still out there. What are we supposed to do?" Dawn asked.

"We'll look for Warren starting tomorrow. For now I think we all should rest easy. Especially you." Angel told Liam.

"But I'm fine dad." Liam said and put his cast on the couch. He did it hard enough that it flinched in pain and held his injured hand.

"And that proves you're wrong. You need to rest." Buffy said.

"Fine. But I'm not going to like it." Liam pointed out.

"Fine." Buffy said.

…

Buffy was in the backyard the next morning, digging through the flowerbed looking for more hidden cameras. Liam came out of the house and walked up to her. His hand was still in the cast.

"Never knew you were gardener." Liam said as he approached his mother.

"I'm not really. Just making sure there are no more Evil Trio cameras. Or Evil Uno." Buffy said.

"I remember playing that game with Kathy and Grandpa Giles."

"Warren. Jonathan and Andrew got clinked, but ... Warren pulled a Rocket Man."

"I saw. Never thought jetpacks would be possible in this time."

"Well this is the hellmouth."

"Home sweet home." Buffy smiled and went back to searching for cameras. They stayed in silence for a minute. "We'll find him mom. I'm sure of it."

"I know." Buffy got up and they both sat side by side on a wooden bench. "I'm actually sorta glad that all I have to deal with is some nerd instead of some dangerous apocalypse."

"Yeah. It's nice to finally fight something that is super dangerous. Kinda refreshing."

"Yeah it is." Buffy looked to her son and held his hand. Liam looked down at their hands and held back. They both looked at each other lovingly. "I miss this."

"What?"

"Us. Just you me. Reminds me of your first year here. When I pretty much had you all to myself."

"Sorry to disappoint."

"No. It's ok. I mean, you have Delia. I have Angel and Connor. And soon I will have you and Kathy."

"God hoping." Liam said and kissed Buffy's hand. "I don't know what I'd do ... if I lost all of you guys all over again."

"Let's not find out." Liam nodded to her and they both hugged. "I love you. You know that right?"

Liam spots something over Buffy's shoulder and his eyes widen in alarm. "Mom!"

A very angry looing Warren came striding into the backyard. He was still wearing the all-black outfit from last night. Buffy and Liam jump up, turning to face him. "You think you can just do that to me? You think I'd let you get away with that?" Warren says and laughs crazily. "Think again." Suddenly he raised a gun and fired wildly at them. Buffy frantically shoved Liam down. He tumbled to the ground. Warren ran off, firing wildly into the air over his shoulder as he goes.

…

Up in Willow and Tara's room, one of the bullets shattered a window. Willow was still standing by the dresser, smiling. Suddenly, redness splatters across her white blouse. She looked surprised. Tara was still standing with her back to the window, looking surprised. There was a large red spot on Tara's chest, right over her heart.

"Your shirt." Tara said frowning. Then she fell forward.

"Tara?" Willow said rushing forward.

…

Back in the backyard, Liam got up and brushed himself off. "Son of a bitch. Where the hell did he…" Liam stopped as he looked to his left and saw Buffy, lying on the ground on her back, staring upward. "Oh god! Mom!" Buffy had a red spot in almost the same place as Tara's. Liam kneeled over her, holding her shoulders. Her eyes close, then slowly open again. "Oh god. Mom? Mom! Mom!" Liam pressed his good hand against the wound, making more blood well out. "Oh god. HELP! SOMEBPDY HELP! PLEASE!" Liam yelled out.

…

Back in the bedroom, Tara laid on the floor. Willow grabbed her shoulders. "Tara?! Baby?" Willow said desperately. Willow rolled Tara over, pulling her onto her lap. Tara stayed limp in Willow's arms. "Baby, come on! Get up!" Willow sobbed. Willow cried harder as Tara continued to not respond. Willow rocked back and forth holding Tara in her lap. "No... no..." She cried. Willow lifted her head and bared her teeth. Her face was wet with tears and her eyes are completely black ... then they went completely red.

**So what do you guys think? Not bad for three weeks hiatus. Comment and Review. This book is almost over.**


	28. Villians

Chapter 28: Villains

Angel was in the kitchen of the Summers house feeding a bottle to Connor. He looked out of the backdoor window and saw Buffy in the garden checking for anymore hidden cameras. Angel smiled at the thought that right now, it seemed like he and Buffy were a typical normal family. He was feeding their infant son, she was out gardening, and it was a beautiful sunny day. He smiled and went back to feeding Connor.

Liam walked into the kitchen. He still had a cast on his arm and wore a black short sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans. "Hey dad. You seen mom?" Liam asked.

"Yeah. She's out back in the garden." Angel answered.

Liam looked out back with a quizzical expression. "Never pegged her as a gardener." Liam went out the back door to talk to his mother. Angel looked out after him as he went over to Buffy and they started to talk. Angel smiled again. Both of his sons were alright and he had the love of his life with him. The doorbell rang and Angel put Connor's bottle down and answered it. Angel opened the front door to reveal Xander standing there.

"Angel. Connor." Xander greeted.

"Xander." Angel greeted back. "Would you like to come in?"

"Thanks." Xander said and entered the Summers house. Angel was not Xander's favorite person in the world. He still had a certain grudge towards him because he turned into Angelus and tortured Buffy for months. But ever since Liam came back from the future and told the gang everything, Xander had softened up towards Angel. At least enough to accept him as an ally. Of course he gave the same threat that if he ever hurt Buffy again, he'd stake him. Angel's response to it was that if he ever intentionally hurt Buffy again with his soul in place, he'd kneel before Xander and open his shirt so that Xander had a clean blow. Since then, they had been ok friends or more like acquaintances.

"So what brings you here?" Angel asked as they headed into the kitchen.

"Just feel like being with some friends at the moment." Xander replied sitting at the island.

"Things still tense between you and Anya?" Angel asked taking Connors near finished bottle and putting it in the sink.

"Yeah. I'm just trying to find a way to talk to her and work things out. I mean, Liam says that we get married in the future so it should be enough for her to forgive me and work it out."

"Well, you did leave her at the altar. Something hurtful like that just doesn't go away."

"This coming from the guy who had the balls to go through with it."

"Well I was ready. I wanted to marry Buffy."

"And I get that. I'm clearly not ready, but why can't Anya just accept that." Just then Delia entered the kitchen. "Ah, good. Delia. Maybe you can help." Xander said to her as he got off his chair.

"Ok. Shoot." Delia responded.

"You're a girl, right?" Xander asked. Angel shook his head at the stupidness of the question.

Delia stared back at Xander with a raised eyebrow. "Well, if I'm not, then I've been buying the wrong underwear." Delia responded.

Xander realized how stupid of a question he asked. "Right. So anyway, I'm trying to get back together with Anya. I mean, I love her and everything and I feel sorry for what I did. I just wanna know why she can't just sit down and talk to me. Work it out."

"Because you left her at the altar. It's not something you can fix with some flowers and a box of chocolates. You hurt her on what she thought to be the best day of her life. It'll be a while before she even thinks about talking to you again." Xander didn't look too thrilled about the answer. "Hey, don't worry. If I know anything about love, it's that it doesn't matter what happens between two lovers. It will always work out." Xander smiled at her response. Then they heard gunshots and everyone hit the floor. Angel held Connor tight and hid him from sight of anything.

"What was that?" Xander asked.

"Sounded like gunshots." Delia said.

"Buffy?" Angel said.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP! PLEASE!" they heard from the backyard. Delia and Xander got up and rushed out of the house. Angel made to follow but he couldn't go out because of the sunlight. Xander and Delia rushed over to Liam who was crouched over Buffy who was lying on the ground. She had a bullet wound and Liam had his good hand on her wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but unsuccessfully.

"What happened?" Delia asked crouching by Buffy and putting her hands on the wound.

"Warren came with a fucking gun and shot at us. He got mom." Liam told them frantically.

"ANGEL, CALL AN AMBULANCE!" Xander called back to Angel. Angel nodded and dialed 911.

"Come on, mom. Don't leave me now. It's not your time." Liam said with tears in his eyes. Buffy just stared straight up at the blue sky. The pain was unbearable to her. She didn't want to die, but it didn't seem she had a choice in the matter.

"The ambulance is on its way." Xander said as he came and knelt next to Buffy. "Hey Buffy. You're gonna be ok." Xander's voice cracked.

"Xander, go up front and get those paramedics back here." Delia ordered. Xander nodded and went out to the front. Delia put pressure on Buffy's wound. Liam removed his hand and stroked Buffy's hair and cheek. Some blood was left from Liam's hand but he didn't care.

"It's gonna be ok, mom." Liam sniffled. "It's gonna be ok." A tear fell down his face. A small tear fell from Buffy's as well. In the house. Tears came down Angel's face as he held Connor. He felt so useless. He couldn't go out in the sun and help his wife from dying. All he could do was stay in the shadows and not do a damn thing.

"Come on, back here!" Xander said as he came to the backyard followed by a couple of paramedics.

"She was shot?" one of the paramedics asked.

"Yeah, in the chest."

"Accidental?"

"No no, it was a ... He was trying to kill her."

They rushed over to Buffy. "Sir, Ma'am, you're going to have to move. Let us take over here." Liam and Delia got up and moved as the paramedics began to work. "How long has she been like this?" the paramedic asked.

"A few minutes." Liam answered.

"What's her name?"

"Buffy, Buffy Summers."

"Are you her boyfriend?"

"No, brother-in-law."

"Ok. Can you tell me what happened here?"

"Warren, he…he came to the backyard from the gate over there and shot at us. She pushed me out of the way and she was shot."

"Pulse is 100 and weak. Lung sounds are wet. Buffy, can you hear me? Blink if you can hear me." The guy said to Buffy. She blinked. "My name is Dan. We're going to put you on a stretcher now." They lifted Buffy and put her gently on the stretcher and then as fast as they could, rushed her to the waiting ambulance.

…

Up on the second floor of the Summers house, in Willow and Tara's bedroom, Tara was lying in Willow's lap. Willow was crying and breathing heavily. She had blood on her arms and her shirt.

She gently shook Tara. "Oh god, oh no. Please, please, come on..." Willow said crying. She put her hands on Tara's face. "Come on, Tara! Please, come on, baby..." Suddenly the lighting in the room went dark and blue. Willow looked up, her eyes totally black. Dark blue clouds swirled around the ceiling. Lightning flashed. "By Osiris, I command you, bring her back!" More lightning. The blue clouds continued to swirl. "Hear me! Keeper of darkness!" Suddenly some of the clouds formed into a huge face. Lightning flashes around it.

"Witch! How dare you invoke Osiris in this task!" It spoke in a deep raspy voice.

"Please. Please, bring her back."

"You may not violate the laws of natural passing."

"How? How is this natural?"

"It is a human death, by human means."

"But I…"

"You raised one killed by mystical forces. This is not the same. She is taken by natural order. It is done."

"No. There has to be a way."

"It is done."

"NOOOO!" Willow screamed. As she screamed, a shimmery column of energy shot out of her mouth and at the demon. The demon screamed and disappeared in a final flash of lightning.

…

Angel opened the door as Delia and Liam came into the house. Liam brushed right passed Angel.

"What's going on?" Angel asked frantically.

"They're taking her to the hospital." Delia informed Angel. She looked pretty bad but I think she'll be fine."

"I have to go with her."

"You can't go out in the day light." Liam said not turning to him.

"Then I'll take the sewers." Angel gave Connor to Delia. "Take care of him. I'll be at the hospital as fast as I can. What are you guys gonna do?"

"What I do best." Liam turned to him. He had an expression of anger on. "I'm gonna hunt down Warren, and kill him."

Angel was about to retort but Delia cut him off. "Liam, you can't leave your mother. We'll follow her and make sure she's ok."

Liam didn't look happy about it but understood. "Fine. We make sure she's ok. Dad takes the sewers. Delia and I will follow in my car." They all nodded. They heard the front door open and then close.

…

"Sunnydale memorial, do you copy? We have a Caucasian female, 21, GSW to the chest" a paramedic said into a walkie-talkie. Buffy was on a gurney being wheeled toward the ambulance.

"Come on, Buff, hang on. We're going to get you to the hospital." Xander said. He spotted Willow coming out the front door, looking blankly at Buffy. Willow still had blood all over her shirts. "Willow, god, are you okay?"

"How did this happen?" Willow asked quietly.

"Warren. He had a gun."

"Warren." Willow aid with venom.

"It went down too fast." Xander said but Willow wasn't listening any more. She started walking away, fast. Xander stopped at the edge of the walk. "Hey." Willow just kept walking down the sidewalk. Xander stared after her, confused and shaken. "Will!"

"Sir, we have to go, are you coming with us or not?" the paramedic asked. Xander dithered for a moment, then ran over to the ambulance and climbed in the back. The paramedic closed the doors and headed toward the driver's seat. They drove off as Liam and Delia came out of the house and ran to Liam's Charger that was parked out front. Delia held Connor in her arms. Liam slid across the hood of his car and got in on the other side. Delia got in on her side and Liam sped off, following the ambulance.

…

The door slammed open to the magic shop and Willow appeared in the doorway. She marched inside. Lamps and light fixtures exploded as she walked past them. Anya was behind the counter and she stared at Willow.

"Willow." Anya said.

"Where do you keep the black arts books?" Willow demanded.

"Something terrible has happened, I know. But you don't have to do…"

"I need power." Willow said staring up at the loft bookshelves.

"Not with those books. I can't let you. Willow!" Anya said coming around from behind the counter. Willow put up a hand. Magic purple bolts of light shot over to Anya and suddenly she couldn't move. Willow gestured with her head. All the books on the loft shelves began to fly off the shelves, landing in a heap all over the table. The last book landed opened to a middle page.

Anya stared in alarm. Willow walked over to the table and looked down. Willow lifted her hands and put them on the open pages. Her hands sunk into the book as if melding with it. The words of the book start to move off the pages and up her arms, curling and scrolling up under her sleeves. The words came up her chest, and moved up her shoulders to her face. She lifted her head and her eyes were black again. The words moved to the top of her head and into her hair, turning her hair black. Willow lifted her hands off the book. The pages are now blank.

"That's better." Willow said.

…

Xander, Liam, and Delia who was holding Connor, stood in the hallway looking through a window into the operating room where Buffy was being treated. They all looked anxious. Especially Liam. He wasn't so anxious that if Buffy died, he wouldn't be born. He was more anxious that his mother would die period. He watched his mother die once from gunshot wounds. He couldn't see it happen again. Not when it wasn't supposed to be her time anyway.

Angel came from around the corner and approached them. Xander and Delia both noticed him, but Liam kept his eyes glued to Buffy's form, not even blinking. "How is she?" Angel asked.

Xander was about to talk but Liam cut him off. "They're trying to stop the bleeding. Blood pressure isn't good." Liam said blankly. Angel took a spot next to his son.

"How can you…"

"If I concentrate, I can block out all noise except that of which I am trying to listen to. I'm hearing the doctors."

"What are they saying?" Xander asked.

"There's more bleeding." Liam said. Angel was about to say something when they heard crashes from the operating room. Everyone looked up and saw that the doctors were staring at a black haired girl dressed all in black. The doctors looked frightened.

Delia stared at the girl. "Is that."

"Willow!" Xander said.

"What happened to her?" Angel asked.

"Oh my god." Liam said sounding horrified. They all ran into the operating room where the beeping on the heart monitor began to speed up and then became a steady whine.

"Leave. Now." Willow ordered the doctors. The doctors ran out of the room quickly.

"Willow, what are you doing?! She's going to die." Xander said.

"No she isn't." Willow moved over to Buffy, stood beside her and stared down at her. The beep/whine continued. Everyone stared. Suddenly the bullet lifted up out of Buffy's chest and floated up into the air, hovering at Willow's eye-level. Willow looked at it. The beeping stopped. "It's so small." She put out her hand and plucked the bullet out of the air, bringing her hand back toward her. When she opened her hand, the bullet was gone.

Xander and Angel both took a few steps closer, staring in awe. Liam and Delia stared where they were. Delia stared in awe too. Liam kept looking at Willow, horrified. He knew why Willow would be all dark. He tried to prevent it, but he obviously couldn't. Buffy slowly came to. She opened her eyes and lifted her head. The lights come back on. Angel rushed over to her and hugged her, kissing her hair.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"We almost…never mind. It doesn't matter now." Angel said.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Xander asked.

"Sure. How'd I get here?" Buffy asked confused. Xander didn't answer. He hugged her. Willow just watched. Buffy looked over at Willow. "Willow?"

"Buffy. Hey." Willow greeted with a very small smile.

"What's wrong?"

"I'll explain. But we've gotta go." She started to move towards the door. Xander, Buffy, and Angel watch her, confused.

"Why?"

"It's time to find Warren." Willow said not turning to her. She stopped and looked at Liam who still stared at her with a horrified look. Liam gulped. "You knew."

"I tried to stop it." Liam said.

"How?" Willow asked angrily.

"Well I told you for starters. And I tried to get that bastard last night but his invulnerability stopped me obviously." Liam waved his cast in the air. Willow looked at it then at him again.

"Give me your hand." Willow ordered. Instantly, Liam's injured hand shot up straight out. Willow hovered a hand over it and the cast disappeared. Liam moved his hand and clenched and unclenched his fist to feel it. His hand was fully healed. Liam looked back at Willow. "Now you can have your revenge."

Liam scrunched up his face in anger and pulled out his pistol and cocked it. "Let's kill that sick fuck!"

"Follow me." Willow turned and left the operating room. Liam looked after her and then turned to everyone else who were all staring at him.

"Dad, take Connor and go back to the house and wait for us there. Everyone else is going to come with me and Willow. We have business to take care of."

"What kind of business?" Buffy asked.

"And what's with the whole dark look?" Xander said.

"Tell you later. But right now we gotta find Warren. Now…MOVE!"

…

In the desert in the daylight, Liam's charger sped along the highway. Liam was driving, Buffy was in the passenger seat and Willow, Delia, and Xander were in back. Willow's eyes were back to normal but her hair was still black.

"Faster." Willow said.

"I'm going as fast as I…" Liam said but was cut off.

"Faster!" The gas petal shot down under Liam's foot and the charger went faster.

"Would you cut that out? If you wanted to drive."

"We need to stop. I don't like this." Buffy said.

"We're close. I can feel him." Willow said.

"And we'll catch him, and he'll go to jail. Look, I'm finding the whole getting shot very motivating. But you're using magic."

"If I wasn't, you'd be dead."

"That's a good argument, mom." Liam said.

"Maybe. But this isn't right. Okay, this isn't how I want it." Buffy said.

"Sometimes you don't have a choice." Willow said.

"I think Buffy gets the tie-breaker on this one. She was the one on the ouchy end of the bullet." Xander said.

"Will, you do have a choice. This isn't good for you."

"You made the decision to stop for a reason. You promised us. And can I just ask, what's with the make-over of the damned? I mean, the hair...!"

"Xander, if I were you, I'd shut up." Delia gave the friendly warning. She had never seen Willow go dark before, but she almost saw it happen a number of times to a dear friend of hers and Liam's. She knew what trouble could come of it.

Willow suddenly shot up. "Turn. Go right!"

"Go where?" Liam asked.

"Over there. Go the other way. Now!"

"Willow."

"Turn!"

The wheel turned and Liam let go of it. "Fine! Fine! Puppet master wants to drive? Go right ahead!" The car continued to bounce along on the uneven surface. Finally it came to a stop, right before another stretch of paved highway. Liam got out of the car and Willow came out behind him. Buffy, Delia, and Xander came out after them.

"Will! Wait!" Buffy called. Willow stood out in the middle of the oncoming traffic road. There was a bus headed straight for her. Willow focused her energy on the bus. Buffy, Xander, and Delia got out to try to pull her out of the way, but without looking at them, Willow threw a bolt of energy at them and they were all stopped in their tracks.

"Stay back." She said. Liam didn't even try to help them. He stood still and pulled out his pistol, ready. The bus sped toward Willow, who stood there calmly. The bus started to slow down. The bus slammed to a stop just a foot or so in front of Willow. Willow walked around to the side with Liam coming behind her. The bus door opened on its own. "Get out." Willow said. All the bus passengers were craning their necks, trying to see what's going on. Warren got up, walked down the aisle and down the steps out of the bus. Willow grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground. Her eyes were black again.

"Please, please, I'll do anything!" Warren cried as Willow started to squeeze.

"Willow don't." Liam said trying to reason. Willow squeezed harder. Suddenly one of Warren's eyes popped out, revealing metal and wiring and sparks. Willow let go and Warren fell over motionless on the ground. Buffy, Xander, and Delia come running over. They stopped and stared.

"It's a robot." Willow said sounding surprised. Everyone looked at her. "I, I could feel his essence." Buffy looked sympathetic. But then Willow turned angry again. "He tricked me." She started to walk. "We'll find him another way."

"And then what?" Buffy asked.

"And then we'll kill him."

Buffy grabbed Willow's arm and stopped her, turning her around. "Okay, you need to calm down."

"Calm down?"

"Look, you're angry. I, I am too. There's no excuse for what Warren did, but that…"

"He shot Tara." Buffy, Xander, and Delia stared at her, speechless. Liam didn't change his expression. "When he shot you, he hit her too. Upstairs in my room."

"Oh my god."

"Guess the last shot was the charm."

"She's dead?" Delia asked.

"She's dead. Now he's dead too."

Buffy started to cry. "No. Oh God, Tara."

"Christ, Will, how come you didn't say anything?" Xander said.

"I'm busy." Willow said and started toward the car again. Buffy again grabbed her and stopped her.

"W-Willow, please, just stop." Buffy begged. Willow stared at her coldly. "We love you. And Tara. But we don't kill humans. It's not the way."

"How can you say that? Tara is dead."

"We know Willow." Liam said stepping forward. "Buffy may not understand it but I do. Warren needs to die." Buffy and Xander both looked at Liam stunned. "But don't let it be you. Willow, if you do this, you let Warren destroy you too."

"You said it yourself, Will ... the magic's too strong, there's no coming back from it." Xander said.

"I'm not coming back." Willow said. Yet again she started to walk off and Buffy grabbed her, stopping her.

"Will, please. Please, we'll get through this together." Buffy said.

"We won't! Not your way." Willow said.

"Please, just…"

"No! No more talking. It's done!" She turned away again, this time gesturing behind her. Another bolt of purple magic flies backward, knocking everyone off their feet. They fell to the ground in a heap. Willow continued walking.

"Really? I'm on your side." Liam said sitting up. Everyone sat up and brushed themselves off. They looked up toward the car, but Willow was nowhere in sight. "At least she left the car."

…

Angel came out of the basement in the Summers home and into the kitchen. He held a sleeping Connor in his arms. It was about sunset.

"Alright buddy, let's get you and Dawn somewhere safe and then deal with Dark Willow." Angel said to him. "Dawn? Tara?" Angel called out. Angel moved to the foyer. "Anybody home?" There was no response. "She should have been back by now." Angel walked up stairs. He smelled Dawns scent as he ascended. Then he stopped as he sniffed blood too. "Dawn." Angel hurried up the stairs and walked into Willow and Tara's bedroom where he stopped dead, staring at the motionless body of Tara still lying there in a pool of blood. "Oh, god."

"I didn't ... want to leave her alone." Angel heard and turned to find Dawn huddled in a little ball, in a corner formed by the wall and a side-table, crying.

"Dawn." Angel knelt beside Dawn "Come on. We need to get out of here, okay?" He stroked Dawn's hair. "Dawn, sweetheart. Be strong, okay? We need to go downstairs."

"I don't understand." Dawn said crying. Angel pulled Dawn close and hugged her while holding Connor. Dawn continued to cry.

"I don't understand either."

…

Liam was driving his charger through the dark streets of Sunnydale. Buffy sat in the passenger's seat. Xander and Delia were riding in back. No one had really said a word since Willow had vanished. Everyone was still mourning over Tara's death and Willows apparent dark approach on life now. Liam was contemplating everything that had happened. He tried to save Tara. He knew she would die. He tried saving her and she still ended up dead. Liam thought did he try his hardest to save Tara. Did he do everything he possibly could, like he did with Connor and Delia? He really tried to kill Warren the previous night, but his stupid invulnerability and strength prevented him from doing so. But there was still something he could do. He could stop Willow from trying to destroy herself and committing murder. Liam had enough blood on his soul to feel guilty about. But Willow shouldn't have it. She didn't deserve to feel the guilt that comes from killing humans.

Liam turned a corner and came upon the Summers house. Everyone sat up and looked when they saw flashing lights and an ambulance parked outside the house. "Oh my god. Dawn!" Buffy said. They saw a body being brought out in a body bag and on a gurney.

"I think its Tara." Delia said. Liam parked the car outside the house. They all got out and met up with Angel at the front door. Buffy and Angel hugged each other instantly.

"Tara's dead." Angel said.

"We know." Xander said.

"How?"

"Willow. She was with Tara when it happened. And now she's bent on revenge." Delia said.

"Dawn?" Buffy asked Angel.

"She's in the living room." Angel told her. Buffy pulled away and went over to Dawn on the couch holding Connor and hugged her. "She found Tara."

"Oh god." Xander said.

"She was pretty shook up."

"That's expected." Delia said. Xander walked into the living room and sat on the coffee table.

All of them sat in silence for a minute. "We need to find Willow." Buffy said.

"Yeah. She's seriously off the wagon. Warren's a dead man if she finds him." Xander said.

Dawn looked up. "Good."

"Dawn, don't say that." Buffy said.

"Why not? I'd do it myself if I could."

"Because you don't feel that way."

"I do. And you all should too. He killed Tara, and he nearly killed you. He needs to pay."

"Out of the mouths of babes." Xander said quietly.

"Xander." Buffy said.

"I'm just saying, he's about as bad as any vamp you've sent to dustville."

"Being the slayer doesn't give me a license to kill. Warren's human."

"So?" Dawn asked.

"So the human world has its own rules for dealing with people like him." Angel said.

"And it's because they were made by human that they don't work out all the time." Liam said blankly. Everyone looked to him. "Look, I'm all for sending this guy to jail and him getting what he deserves. But this guy has gotten away with too much for too long."

"We can't control the universe. If we were supposed to, the magic wouldn't change Willow the way it does. And we'd be able to bring Tara back." Buffy said.

"And mom." Dawn said.

"And save the future." Delia added.

"There are limits to what we can do. There should be. Willow doesn't want to believe it and now she's messing with forces that want to hurt her." Angel said.

"All of us." Buffy added.

"Well then I suggest we stop it before it gets any worse." Liam said.

"How?"

"Willow lost someone she loved. By someone who she hates. She is hell bent on revenge. I know what she's going through, I've been there. If Willow succeeds in killing Warren, then she will be worse than she can be if she doesn't."

"You knew." Xander surmised. Buffy, Angel, and Dawn all stared at Liam. "I didn't think of it at the time, but you knew Tara would die didn't you? Willow did too. That's what you guys were talking about at the hospital."

After a beat. "Yes."

"And you didn't tell us?" Dawn asked sounding angry.

"I told Willow and she told Tara."

"Did you even know who killed her?" Xander asked.

"Of course I did. I tried to kill the bastard last night but I couldn't. I wanted to find him and kill him before he had the chance to kill Tara."

"And look how that turned out."

"Look, I'm sorry ok. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys about Tara dying and Willow going dark. I tried to stop it myself and I failed. I'm sorry. But blaming me isn't going to stop Willow. If she kills Warren, she will tear apart her soul and she will never be the same. She felt guilty in the future for killing Warren and the things she did when she was dark. I want to spare her that pain."

"How?" Buffy asked.

"Easy. We kill Warren before Willow does, she won't go off the deep end."

"I can't believe that you're my son." Liam looked at his mother. Buffy got up off the couch. "You are actually willing to kill a human being?"

"It's not like I haven't done it before."

"This isn't about protecting Dawn and Connor and saving Delia. Warren isn't trying to kill anyone now. Willow is."

"Are you suggesting that I kill Willow?"

"No. I don't want you to kill anyone."

"Mom, it's this kinda attitude that provoked Kathy to start our team."

"What team?"

"The White Hats. A group that started out just like you did with the Scoobies. Kathy, Willows daughter, Xander's son. They started the White Hats and were the best at saving the world. Even more than a slayer."

"What do you mean?" Angel asked. Liam looked to Delia and then to everyone else. He walked further into the living room and sat in one of the armchairs.

"In the future, technology got stronger. So did you guys. But you kept to the same point of view of the world. And even though it's noble and we adopted it, sometimes….you're wrong. The thing about man's laws is that it's flawed, because men our flawed. And powerful men, who rise up above others by stepping on people's throats use everything they can to do what they want and get away with it. They hide behind the law and can't be touched by the law. Kathy and her team, recruited me after I got over my anger. At first, I was like you. I didn't want to kill humans unless I had to. But I looked at the world that it was, and saw that I had to. This world needs people like us. People who are willing to do…..what others cannot."

"Kill humans." Xander said.

"If they can, they can cheat the system. And get back out there to do more damage. You can't contain the disease. You have to eradicate it at the source. Which means if a powerful man, who everyone knows is guilty of serious crimes, can get by the law, you have to do what you gotta do so that he can't hurt anyone anymore."

"I am not going to kill a human." Buffy said.

"Fine." Liam pulled out his pistol. "Then I will. This is no different than what I've done in the future to save lives. I'm not a slayer. So I don't abide by your rules to the letter."

"But I do." Delia said coming forward. "Liam, I know I can't change your mind about this. But it doesn't mean I have to follow it. I'm a slayer and still abide by the rules."

"And that's fine." Liam got up. "But we need to stop Warren and stop Willow from killing him. It will destroy her if she does. Kill Warren, kill the temptation for revenge. It helped me in the future, it helped me several days ago, and it'll help Willow. If we're lucky, she will revert back to her original self if Warren dies before she can get to him."

"Then we have to find him first." Buffy said. "Warren's going to get what he deserves. I promise you. But I will NOT let Willow destroy herself."

"So where do we go? She could be anywhere." Delia said.

"Maybe the magic shop. There could be some kind of locating spell." Buffy said to Angel, then she looked at Xander. "Angel and I can go if you…"

"No, I'll go. It's ok." Xander said.

"Dawn and Connor can't stay here by themselves."

"Let me come with you." Dawn said.

"No, honey, it's too dangerous."

"But ... it's Willow. She needs us."

"She does. And you'll help her. Lots. Okay, but first we have to get her home in one piece.

"But…"

"Dawn. I'm serious. You've been through enough for more than one ... ever. You should be someplace where you feel safe."

"Fine. I want to go to Spike's and Faith's."

"Probably the best course of action." Liam said.

"Alright." Buffy said.

…

Buffy opened the door to Faith and Spike's apartment. "Spike? Faith?" Liam, Dawn, Delia, and Angel holding Connor and a bag followed in.

Clem jumped up and threw the potato chips everywhere in the process. "Suffering cats! Where did you come from!?"

"Sorry, we didn't mean to startle you."

"Woooo, it's, it's ok. You all just snuck up on me, that's all."

"I spilled your snacks." Buffy smiled apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. Not like I need any more of this." Clem pointed to some of his loose skin. "Hi."

"Hi." Dawn said.

"Can I get you guys something? I was just going to mix up some Country Time."

"We were looking for Faith and Spike actually." Buffy said.

"They didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"They left town."

"Oh." Buffy said with a sadden expression. Liam looked away from Clem and rubbed the back of his neck.

"They just took off?" Dawn asked.

"That's why I'm staying here for him. Sweet pad like this goes empty a few days; you'll lose it for sure. Plus I don't have a TV." Clem looked at them all. "I'm surprised they didn't tell you. They were kind of in a hurry. I guess. You sure I can't get you something? I have Bugles and Liverwurst and..."

"We're fine, thanks, but you could do us a favor? You think Dawn and Connor could hang out here with you for a while? I have some stuff to do and I don't want them to be alone."

"I still don't see why I can't." Dawn started.

"Dawn, I told you why." Buffy said. She turned to Clem. "What do you think?"

"No problem. I'd love the company." He looked at Dawn. "You like Parcheesi?"

"Sure." Dawn said.

"Or we could rent videos. I've been dying to watch 'The Wedding Planner.'"

"Either way, I'm good." Dawn said.

"Here, you can take the comfy chair."

Angel handed Connor to Buffy and put the bag of baby stuff on a table. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise." Buffy said to Dawn and handed Connor to her. "Take good care of him."

"Of course." Dawn said.

"Thank you." Buffy said to Clem. She turned to go, but turned back. "Did they say why they'd left and when they'd be coming back?"

"Spike and Faith? No, only that they could be gone a while. They had a huge fight and Faith left. Spike went to find her, but she had left town. He got so mad that he just left."

"Oh." Buffy said.

…

At the magic shop, Xander was trying to lead Anya toward the table. Anya was still partly frozen from Willow's spell.

"You feeling any change? Can you talk?" Xander asked.

Anya pulled away, not looking at him. "It's wearing off." Anya said. She sat down on the bench. "Willow was here earlier. She put the whammy on me and went straight to the dark arts books. Sucked them dry."

"Look, Anya, something terrible happened."

"I know. Tara."

"Willow's out for blood, big time. We need to find her before she finds Warren. Is there something you can do, a, a locator spell?"

"I don't need a spell. I can feel her."

"You can...?"

"Feel her. Her thirst for vengeance, it's overwhelming."

"Is that like, left over from your vengeance demon days? You just sense her?"

"No. Not left over." Anya gave Xander a meaningful look. The clue hits.

"Oh." Xander said getting it.

"Yeah."

"When?"

"When do you think?" Anya said sourly. The Summers family came in through the front door.

"Is everyone okay? Did Willow…" Buffy began.

"Got her power boost and took off."

"Anya's ... Anya was saying she knows where Willow is." Xander said.

"A spell?" Angel asked.

"Not exactly. Seems Anya got her vengeance on again."

"Oh." Angel and Buffy said together.

"What does he mean by that?" Delia asked Liam.

"Anya used to be a vengeance demon. Now apparently she's one again." Liam explained.

"How was she able to…" Delia looked from Xander to Anya. "Oh." She said the exact same way as Buffy and Angel.

"So, Willow's all wrathy ... why don't you go to her? Isn't that your gig?" Xander asked Anya.

"Normally, I'd have to ... but she doesn't want me." Anya said.

"She wants to do it herself." Liam said.

"Yeah."

"Look, Anya, we don't have much time. Which side of this are you on?" Buffy asked. Anya hesitated.

"If you know where she is, you can help us."

Anya stood up and sighed. "I'll help. But I'm helping Willow. She's close to him. He's in the woods."

Everyone exchanged looks.

…

Willow was walking along through the woods at night, holding the bloody shirt she wore when Tara was shot. The bushes bent back out of her way as she passed. She walked slowly and calmly.

Willow came to a small clearing. She looked around and smiled a little. "Run all night, Warren. I'll still find…" Suddenly something hit her. She fell down face-first. Warren was standing behind her. A long-handled axe was buried in Willow's back. Warren stared down at her, looking nervous. He started to smile a little. Suddenly Willow rose upward and onto her feet, lifted by magic. She turned to face Warren, reaching her arm behind her to pull the axe out of her back. Warren stared at her fearfully. "Axe, not gonna cut it." She tossed the axe to the ground. Warren ran off as Willow followed.

Warren ran through the forest, panting, reaching behind him to pull something out of his backpack. It was a small metal box. Warren stopped running and pulled a pin on the side of the box. Little metal wings appeared from holes on two sides of the box. The wings began to flap. Warren smiled as the box lifted off his hand and up into the air. It zoomed away with quick flitting movements like a bat. Willow walked calmly through the woods. The winged box flew up to her. She looked at it in surprise. Suddenly the box exploded. But the explosion, instead of moving continuously outward, only expanded to a diameter of about ten feet. It surrounded Willow in a shimmering ball of energy like solidified air and fire, holding her motionless. But then she stepped forward, and the ball shattered into large pieces like glass. Willow resumed walking.

Warren was running desperately through the woods, looking back over his shoulder. He turned to face front again and found Willow directly in front of him. Warren stopped short, gasping. He laughed nervously. "Cute. That's a cute trick." He said. Willow was silent and just walked toward him. He backed away, very nervously. "It was an accident, you know."

"Oh. You mean, instead of killing my best friend, you killed my girlfriend." Willow said.

"It ... it wasn't personal, that's all."

"Well, this is." Warren turned to run away. Willow held out both her hands and sent a huge blast of magical energy at Warren, knocking him down. He quickly pulled his arms out of his backpack straps.

"Capture!" Warren said. He threw what looked like a small ball of blue goo at Willow. It hit her in the stomach and began to expand, first around her body pinning her arms to her sides, then up and down until her whole body and head were surrounded by shimmery transparent blue. Her mouth opened as if trying to speak, but she couldn't.

Warren jumped up and ran off again, leaving his backpack behind. Willow's eyes behind the goo began to glow fiery orange. The goo in front of her eyes melted, and then the entire cocoon melted and slid down off her body. "Irretite." Willow said. Vines from several nearby trees suddenly whipped out and wrapped around Warren's legs, then his wrists. He was trapped, spread-eagled between two trees. He looked around, panting. Willow walked around a tree and approached him. "Cute tricks."

"You're really asking for it, you know that?" Warren said.

"I'm asking for it?" Willow said incredulously.

"I'm gonna walk away from this. And when I do, you're gonna beg to go join your little girlfriend."

Willow frowned as if realizing something. "She wasn't your first."

"Uh, first who?" Warren asked nervously.

"Tara. She wasn't the first girl you killed."

"I don't know what you're talk…"

"Reveal!" Willow interrupted.

Warren then heard a familiar voice that he never expected to her again. "I should have strangled you in your sleep." Warren's ex-girlfriend Katrina, whom he killed and tried to pin the murder on Faith, walked around the same tree that Willow just came from. She was deathly pale. "Back when we shared a bed. I should have done the world a favor."

Warren laughed nervously. "It's a trick."

"Why, Warren? You could have just let me go." Katrina said. Warren was pretty freaked and couldn't look at Katrina. He just looked at Willow and the surroundings. Willow watched him calmly.

"Make it shut up. Make it go away." Warren told Willow. Willow didn't answer.

"It didn't have be like that." Katrina said.

"I'm not kidding!" Warren told Willow, ignoring Katrina.

"How could you say you loved me, and do that to me?"

"Because you deserved it, bitch!" Warren finally looked at Katrina but she wasn't there anymore.

"Because you liked it." Willow said.

"Oh, shut up!"

"You never felt you had the power with her. Not until you killed her."

Warren gave a nasty laugh. "Women. You know, you're just like the rest of them. Mind games."

"You get off on it. That's why you had a mad-on for the Slayer. She was your big O, wasn't she, Warren?"

"Are you done yet? Or can we talk some more about our feelings?" Warren may be talking smack to Willow, but he was trebling with fear. Willow sensed this on him. Warren wasn't going anywhere.

…

In another part of the forest, Anya was walking along, with Buffy, Angel, Xander, Liam, and Delia following.

"What's happening? What do you feel?" Buffy asked Anya.

"She's stronger now. Close." Anya said.

"What about Warren? Has she…" Xander asked.

"He's still alive. She's not done."

"If she's got him, then we gotta move…NOW!" Liam said and they all started running.

…

"Help!" Warren yelled out. He was getting pretty desperate at this point. "Let me go." He said to Willow in his normal voice. "Somebody! Help!"

"What's the matter? Thought you wanted to talk." Willow said.

"No."

"Okay." Willow opened her hand, revealing the bullet that she took from Buffy's chest earlier. "I'll talk." She waved her other hand, and Warren's shirt ripped open.

"What, what are you doing?"

"Shhh."

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry."

Willow held the bullet about an inch from Warren's chest, right over his heart. She let it go, but the bullet continued to hover in place. "Wanna know what a bullet feels like, Warren? A real one?" Warren looked nervously down at the bullet, then up at her. "It's not like in the comics."

"No. No." Warren said getting rally freaked out at this point.

"I think you need to. Feel it." The bullet slowly started to push its way into Warren's chest.

"Oh god! Stop it!"

"It's not going to make a neat little hole. First, it'll obliterate your internal organs. Your lung will collapse. Feels like drowning."

"Please! No." Warren was clearly in a lot of pain as the bullet continued penetrating his body.

"When it finally hits your spine, it'll blow your central nervous system."

"Oh please, stop, god! Please…"

"I'm talking!" Willow said angrily. She lifted a hand and suddenly Warren's lips were sewn shut with large stitches of thread. He could only groan and whimper. "The pain will be unbearable, but you won't be able to move. Bullet usually travels faster than this, of course. But the dying? It'll seem like it takes forever." She paused, as if affected by her own words, looking at the little wound on Warren's chest. Warren just grunted and squeezed his eyes shut in pain. "Something, isn't it? One tiny piece of metal destroys everything. It ripped her insides out ... took her light away. From me. From the world." Now she looked at Warren in the eye again, re-focusing. He continued to tremble, groaning in pain and fear. "Now the one person who should be here is gone ... and a waste like you gets to live." Warren continued whimpering in pain. "Tiny piece of metal. Can you feel it now?"

…

The rest of the gang was running towards where Willow and Warren was. Liam took the lead with Anya.

"Anya." Liam said.

"Over there." Anya said. She lead them off to the left. Liam pulled out his pistol.

…

Warren continued grunting through his sewn-shut mouth.

"I said, can you feel it?" Willow asked. She waved her hand and the stitches disappeared.

"Please! God! I did wrong, I see that now. I need, I need jail! I need ... But you, you don't want this. You're, you're not a bad person. Not like me." Warren begged. Willow stared at him.

"Willow!" Buffy yelled out. Willow looked over. To the source of the voice. The others were visible a few hundred feet away, rushing towards her.

"Willow don't!" Liam yelled.

"Oh, and when you get caught, you'll lose them too. Your friends." Warren panted. "You don't want that. I know you're in pain, but…

"Bored now." Willow said, using her vampire alter ego's catchphrase.

Liam heard what Willow said. "NO!" he yelled. He stopped short, raised his pistol, aimed, and fired. The shot echoed throughout the woods. The bullet whistled passed everyone and headed straight for Warren. Willow raised her hand the bullet Liam shot stopped several inches from Warren's right eye. Warren stared at it in horror. The bullet dropped to the ground and Warren looked down at it then looked to Willow.

"Not mine." Willow made a casual gesture with one hand. A bolt of magic ripped through Warren and teared the skin off his body in a single piece.

Everyone arrives just in time to see this. "Oh my god." Xander said. Liam came up behind them and stared in shock at the sight. He wasn't able to stop Willow from going dark. He wasn't able to stop her from committing murder. He wasn't able to save some one he loved.

Warren's skinless body sagged against the vines that still held him. Willow stood looking at it. "What did you do?" Buffy asked shocked. Willow continued looking at the lifeless body. "Willow, what did you do?"

Willow looked over at her friends, then back at the body. Suddenly it burst into flames and burned to nothing in an instant. "One down." Willow said calmly. Smoke began to curl up around Willow's body as red fire flashed in her eyes again. Lightning flashed as her whole body dissipated into smoke and was gone. The others stood there staring in horror.

**Two more chapters left in this story. Comment and review.**


	29. Two to Go

Chapter 29: Two to Go

**Hey guys. Sorry that this is a late update. I had to work for like two weeks straight, then I went on vacation. But now I'm back and finishing up this book to start the next one. I'm starting school soon so I won't have a lot of time to write, but I will always find time. I promise. As for this chapter, it continues on the story. Enjoy.**

The gang was running again through the woods. Willow had a big head start. Buffy, Angel, Liam, and Delia were ahead of the group, running at almost full force. Buffy looked back and then she shot out a hand to stop the others.

Xander had stopped and was leaning against a tree. "I think I'm gonna be sick." Xander said.

"Again?" Anya asked.

"Xander, we don't have time." Buffy said.

"I know, it's just. What happened back there, the sounds of it. The smell." Xander said.

"I know."

"Willow did that."

"That's why we have to move." Angel said.

Liam also leaned on a tree and bowed his head. "I didn't want this. I didn't want any of this." Liam said. He was feeling so guilty. Every pulse in his head told him it wasn't his fault. Willow did this in the past before he even came. It shouldn't be his fault. But everything in his soul told him different. He could have stopped it. He should have stopped it. But he didn't.

Delia put a hand his shoulder to comfort him. "You did what you could." Delia said.

"Obviously not enough." Xander said looking at Liam. Liam stood up and turned to face Xander. "You knew she would do all of this. And you did nothing."

"I tried…" Liam tried to defend himself.

"Yeah. I get that. But I also think you wanted this to happen, just so that it could help you in your big master plan so that everything turns out better for the future. Even if it means fucking us over."

"Xander!" Buffy said.

"He knew she would turn evil!"

"You better watch what you say to my son." Angel threatened.

"You should be more worried about what he won't say and what new big bad comes and kills us."

"He won't let that happen."

"He let Willow turn evil!"

"He tried to stop it!" Buffy defended her son.

"STOP!" Liam yelled. Everyone turned to him and saw that he was on the verge of tears. "Everyone just stop. Please." Everyone was silent for a moment. Liam looked to Xander. "I'm sorry. Ok. I'm sorry that I didn't stop Willow. I really wanted to. But I had to deal with trying to save my family as well. I couldn't deal with every issue that's going on all at once."

"You couldn't take five minutes to kill the guy that killed Tara? I mean you knew he would do it." Xander said.

"Of course I knew. But I had to set my priorities. I had to save Connor and save my wife."

"You could have at least warned us."

"I had to save my family."

"Oh. So your family is just a little bit more important than the rest of us."

"That is not true."

"You let Tara die and Willow to turn evil."

"I wanted to save them."

"The hell you did."

While the testosterone fighting was going on, Buffy, Angel, and Anya were watching it happen. Delia however had enough of it. She walked up to both Xander and Liam and smacked them both on the back of the head. Immediately the fight stopped. They both looked at Delia. Delia looked frustrated with the both of them.

"Stop fighting." She said with determination. "We aren't going to save anyone if we fight amongst ourselves." She looked directly at Xander. "We knew. We're sorry we didn't say anything but to be honest, Willow turning evil isn't a big threat to the world's survival. I love Willow. And I would have loved to have saved her." She looked to Liam. "And I would have loved to have saved Tara. We tried and we failed. Sometimes we can't save everyone and that unfortunately includes people in the past. The only thing we can do is save as many lives as we can before shit is thrown at us. So store your dicks away for your pissing match another time. Right now we to stop Willow. Can you guys handle that?" Xander and Liam both looked at each other, each with a stunned expression at Delia's outburst. Liam had very rarely seen Delia take charge that way she just did, but when she did, she usually got people to do what she wanted. It was one of the reasons why he respected her.

Buffy put a hand on Xander's shoulder and they looked at each other. Xander nodded. Liam nodded too. They all started to walk fast.

"You heard what she said. 'One down.' " Buffy said.

"So, we're thinking 'two to go.' Jonathan and what's-his-face, the other guy?" Anya asked.

"Andrew. Both of them are just sitting in the county jail without a clue Willow's coming." Liam said.

"You don't think she's gonna kill them too? She wouldn't. There's no good reason."

"Will's got an addictive personality, and she's just tasted blood." Angel said.

"And she's a witch. One's bad enough. But both of those traits together….Might as well be dealing with a god." Liam said.

"She could be there already." Buffy said.

"No she couldn't. A witch at her level? She could only go airborne. It's a thing. Very flashy, impresses the locals, but it does take longer." Anya said.

"Longer than what?" Xander asked.

"Teleporting." With that Anya vanished in a whoosh of smoke.

"Right, Vengeance Demon. How could I... at least she'll get there first."

"And I'm counting the ways that could go wrong." Buffy said.

"Anya can handle herself."

"Against Willow, tonight? Don't be too sure." Delia said.

"She's got to come down sometime, doesn't she? I mean back there she was out of her head, running on grief and Magicks."

"Doesn't matter. Willow just killed somebody. Killing changes you. Believe me: I know." Angel said.

"Warren was a stone cold killer of women just getting warmed up. You ask me? Bastard had it coming."

"I don't disagree. But Johnathon and Andrew don't. They don't have blood on their hands." Liam said.

"This is still Willow we're dealing with right?"

"Diffidently, it's still Willow. But it'll be harder than dealing with a normal girl after a break-up. Whatever she's going through, we gotta stop her. And maybe we can if we get to the..." They stopped in front of Angel's car. It was almost ripped to shreds.

"Car." Buffy finished.

"Willow." Xander said.

"Looks like she wants to finish the job without us tagging along."

"Don't worry. She just took out dad's car." Liam said. He went over to some bushes. "Luckily I hid my car before we even…." He stopped as he saw the devastation that was his car. It was torn to shreds like his father's. He slowly turned to the rest of the gang with a surprised but angry look. "SON OF A BITCH!"

…

Buffy, Angel, Liam, and Delia were running through the streets.

"She wrecked my car! She wrecked my car!" Liam said for the umpteenth time while they were running.

"Would you shut up about the damn car." Delia told him off.

"It was my car."

"Angel's car was destroyed too. You don't hear him crying about it." Buffy pointed out.

"She wrecked my car." Angel said under his breathe.

Both Buffy and Delia scoffed. "Men." They said together.

The family reached Main Street and ran into the alley next to the police station. They all had their backs against the wall and the moved along it until Buffy reached the edge. They stopped and Buffy peered around the corner at the scene in front of the police station. Willow was standing surrounded by bricks and pieces of mortar, the crowd of cops were pointing guns at her and yelling, other cops were helping each other up off the ground.

"Sitrep?" Liam said.

"Willow's surrounded by cops and is trying to get Johnathon and Andrew out of the police station." Buffy said.

"She couldn't have bailed them out properly." Delia said.

"We'll need to get inside if we're going to rescue Johnathon and Andrew." Angel said.

"But how?" Delia asked.

"I know this is a little cliché, but there's always the side door." Liam said. Buffy, Angel, and Delia looked to where Liam pointed and saw the side door. Buffy walked over and turned the knob until it broke then pulled the door nearly off its hinges. They all entered the station house.

…

Willow was still looking up at the hole in the building as a crowd of cops gathered in front of her, pointing guns and yelling. Willow put her hands out down by her hips and lifted up into the air, floating toward the hole. She appeared right in front of the hole in the wall she created, grabbed the sides of it, and climbed inside. She looked inside and saw that the cell was empty. She saw that the cell bars have been bent aside, making a hole.

"Buffy." Willow said.

Anya was standing in the hallway just beyond the bars. "Willow, just stop for a second and listen to…" Willow lifted her hands and hit Anya with a blast of magic. Anya flew backward and hit the opposite wall. She fell down unconscious. Willow turned away and screamed a shrill, loud scream of anger.

…

The family led Andrew and Jonathan out the way they came. Delia had her sword drawn and Liam had his gun out. They raced into the alley. Suddenly an inhuman scream rang out. Their hands shot to their ears.

"Ahh! What is that sound? God it kills!" Andrew cried.

The screaming grew.

"We have to make a run for it." Buffy said.

"Are you kidding? She's like Dark Phoenix up there! And you expect us to just outrun her?" Andrew asked.

"Pretty much." Delia said.

Liam peered around the corner and saw the group of cops holding their guns and looking up at where Willow went. Some were holding their ears. "We need some wheels if we're going to get out of here." Liam said.

An SUV drove up next to them. Xander was in the driver's seat. "Get in." he said.

"That works." Buffy opened the back door and put the seat down to let Jonathan and Andrew in. Liam and Delia followed into the middle with Buffy. Angel was already on the passenger side. Xander drove forward. The police turned and yelled at them to stop. They didn't. They drove as fast as Xander would go.

They were now driving down a dark street.

"Is she coming?" Buffy asked.

Angel checked his mirror. "I don't see her."

"Nothing." Xander said checking his mirror.

"You guys all right?" Buffy asked Jonathan and Andrew. "Are you injured?"

"No. I, I don't think so." Jonathan said.

"Where are you taking us?" Andrew asked.

"We'll find someplace safe and keep you there until we can stop Willow." Buffy said.

"'Run and hide!' That's your brilliant plan?"

"I don't believe this!" Jonathan groaned.

"Boys? If you don't knock it off, I will pull this car over and you can just walk to your painful deaths from here." Xander said.

"I don't get it. Willow's a witch. Why doesn't she just, you know, wave her arms and make us dead?"

"She doesn't want you dead." Delia said.

"She wants to kill you." Liam finished.

"But we didn't do anything!" Andrew whined.

"You stole valuable items, aided and a bedded a murderer, tried to steal an armored car full of cash, and hung out with an asshole named Warren." Liam said and turned to face the two. "Tell me how you should be exempt from any punishment?" Both Johnathon and Warren looked sheepish and stayed quite.

"Hate to admit it, Buff, but Jonathan may have a point. Why isn't she right here right now?" Xander asked.

"Maybe, maybe she's just getting her mojo up and running, or maybe she hasn't figured out how much power she really has yet." Buffy answered.

"And neither have we." Angel said.

"Unless two people in this car are willing to share anything." Xander said looking into his rearview mirror at Liam and Delia. Buffy and Angel looked at them as well. Liam and Delia were quite for a moment.

"Willow doesn't know how much power she actually has now." Liam said finally. "But with the power she has, she doesn't have full control over it."

"She's pretty much a walking Chernobyl. Only she can direct where the blast goes." Delia said.

"So how do we stop her?" Andrew asked.

"Let's get you guys somewhere safe first before I tell you. We can't get much done driving in a SUV."

"Guess we keep running, huh?" Xander asked.

"I still can't believe that was Willow. I mean... I've known her almost as long as you guys. Willow was... you know. She packed her own lunches and wore floods and she was always... just Willow." Jonathan said.

Everyone was silent as they took what Jonathan had just said in. Willow was nothing like she was back in high school. She used to be so quiet and nice. But now she was evil and all to powerful. Liam had known Willow all his life and never once saw her evil side. He heard out it but never saw. He remembered how another red head that he loved was close to the brink, she was stopped by Willow herself. That was as close to a dark Rosenberg as he ever got, until now. The sound of a semi-truck came up behind them. They didn't think anything of it until the truck rammed them from behind.

"Geez it!" Jonathan cried.

"What was that?" Andrew asked.

"Just Willow." Xander said.

Willow was on top of the truck, driving it magically. Her eyes were all-black again. She held her hands in front of her, elbows extended, palms facing out. The driver looked confused and frustrated.

"Any ideas?" Xander asked.

"Drive faster." Everyone said. The car sped up and pulled ahead. But then the truck sped up and caught up again. Another hit. The bumper of the car came partly detached and scraped along the ground. The truck hit the car yet again. Everyone in the car looked scared.

"Well, this is faster." Xander said.

"She knows you guys are in this car too, right?" No one said anything. "Right?" Jonathan asked again. Buffy looked back and saw Willow on top of the truck. She was sweaty and she looked a exhausted. The bumpers separated.

"She's draining." Jonathan said from the back of the car.

"She's what-ing?" Xander asked.

"Just keep going." Liam ordered.

Willow grimaced and fell down to a sitting position on top of the truck. The car and truck rounded a corner onto a wide, deserted four-lane road. The car's bumper still dragged behind them, throwing up sparks. Xander concentrated on his driving. Willow was now on all fours and staring at the car, still grimacing. The truck driver yanked at the wheel and found it responding now. He swerved left, then right. The truck jack-knifed and came to a stop. The car continued speeding away.

"Cool!" Andrew said. Liam turned back and gave him a dirty look.

…

Dawn was still in Spike and Faith's apartment. She was holding Connor and sitting in a chair by the window. She hadn't left the apartment since Buffy left her there. But she was feeling restless. People were out there risking their lives and she couldn't do anything to help.

"Not like I'm knocking the nacho cheese ones, I like the taste." Clem said eating some snacks. He and Dawn were having a taste testing. "It's the texture I can't deal with. So gritty. Kinda hurts my tongue, so I'd give 'em... a seven. Seven-five maybe and you think this is dumb, don't you?"

"No! As taste tests go, this is definitely one of the better ones I've been to." Dawn said.

Clem sadly put the chips away. "I get it. No biggie. You guys wanna play cards?"

"Clem." Dawn said.

"I can be a real boredom-buster, if you just give me half a chance."

"It's not you."

"Still, I feel responsible. It's not fair, kid your age, cooped up in an apartment. Tell you what: let me get my hat and coat, I'll take you to a movie. We'll go nuts. PG-13!"

"Clem, look at me. Do I look weak to you? Or incapable?"

"Heck no!"

"So why am I stuck here?"

"Protect your nephew." Clem pointed out. Dawn looked down at a sleeping Connor and sighed. She did need to protect Connor. For Buffy, Angel, and Liam. Her family. But her family was out there risking their lives and she still felt like she needed to be out there. She needed to help her family. All of them. Clem sighed. "I'm still real sorry about what happened. If there's anything I can do to help, just name it."

"Anything?" Dawn asked.

"Aw, you're not going to get yourself in trouble now, are you? Or me? 'Cause Buffy's the Slayer; I'm a demon, that's real incentive to get along with her..."

"I need a demon to help me. Spike would have."

"Spike's gone."

"I know, that's why we need you."

"I'm going to regret this." Clem said as they headed out the door.

...

Anya unlocked the door to the magic shop and everyone ran in. Anya strode to the middle of the shop impatiently.

"Thanks Anya, for getting here so fast. It's a big help." Xander said.

"And once again we find Xander Harris needing the big help." Anya retorted.

"Whatever. So, can you still sense Willow? Knowing her location would be a real comfort right now."

"No. I can't. And that means whatever she's feeling, it's gone way beyond simple vengeance."

"Did I mention the me needing comfort?"

"Whatever we've got here, better grab it fast. This is going to be one of the first places Willow would think to look for us." Buffy said.

"Then what are we doing here?" Andrew asked. They all turned and looked at him. "You know, I could summon a demon to kill her."

"And I could smack you so hard your eyeballs switch sockets." Xander said.

"No one is getting killed. Now sit down and shut up." Liam ordered the nerds. Johnathon and Andrew sat down without retort.

Buffy turned to Anya. "We've got to find some kind of Magicks that'll stop Willow." Buffy said.

"But she drained the place." Angel said. "Took everything."

"Doesn't mean there still can't be something to stop her." Delia said. "Willow's strong but I doubt she could destroy or take everything that could repel Magic's."

"Exactly." Anya said. She reached under the counter with a key and unlocked a hidden door. She came back up with a small old book.

"What is it?" Xander asked.

"Book of protection spells. Anti-magick. Our last resort."

"Think you can work this stuff?"

Anya opened the book then looked back up at them. "Ah. Okay. The good news is: text is intact. Bad news is: I can't read a word of it. It's like in, ancient Sumerian or something."

"Can I take a look at…" Jonathan started.

"Shut up." Buffy and Angel cut him off.

"I just thought, you know, as long as you're protecting us, the least I could do is..."

"I'm not protecting you, Jonathan. None of us are. We're doing this for Willow. And the only reason it happens to be your lucky day is because if she kills you, a line gets crossed, I lose a friend. And I hate losing." Buffy said.

"She REALLY does." Angel said.

"So do I, but if this piece of shit knows how to do stuff we can't, our only option is to use him." Liam said.

"So what? We're going to let him take a look at spells to somehow get loose and kill us or Willow?" Buffy asked.

Liam moved over to Johnathon and held his gun up to his head. "You make the slightest move towards crossing us, and I'll put one in your lap first." He threatened. Johnathon looked very threatened.

"I get that. It's just... you know she's running out of power, right? I could tell, I could practically feel it. I've dabbled in the Magicks." Johnathon said.

"I'm thinking Willow's in a league of her own about now, dabble-boy." Xander said.

"But still, running that hot for so long. Just a matter of time before you gotta recharge. No matter how juiced up you are."

"Thank you. Now remember that thing we talk about?" Buffy asked Jonathan.

"About me shutting up?" Buffy nodded. Jonathan became quite again. Xander took Buffy, Angel, and Liam over to the side to talk to them. Delia still held her sword and looked upon Andrew and Johnathon like a lioness waiting for her prey to make the wrong move so as to pounce. This made the boys uncomfortable. Delia slightly smiled at their uneasiness.

Xander started to talk to the family. "Guys, say this works. And we stop Willow from working the hoodoo for a minute. What then?" Xander asked.

"We talk to her." Buffy answered.

"That's how it worked before." Liam said.

"How?" Angel asked.

"Not full on the details. All I know is that it was you guys, not you dad, but mom and Xander that got through to her."

"Great. So what do we say?"

"Whatever she's going to do, she starts with these two." Buffy said. "They're the line she cannot cross. And if she's running low on the Magicks, she's probably somewhere now trying to get it all back."

"Where?"

"I think I know." Xander got a look of realization. "Xander, Liam, stay here and watch the dead geeks walking. Angel and I are going to find Willow." Buffy said. She and Angel headed out and walked fast through the streets of Sunnydale.

…

"Rack's place was right around here last time..." Dawn said. She and Clem were walking down a deserted street near the edge of town. Dawn was still holding Connor in her arms.

"I don't feel anything. Oh well. Not here. Let's go home." Clem said.

"You don't feel anything because his place moves. I told you."

"Know why Rack moves all the time? Because he's shady. A bad element comes down here."

"I get that. But Willow's part of it now... She is the element. Rack may know where she is. Which is why we need to talk to him."

"We? In a face-to-face way?"

"Or I will. I'll go in without you."

"No, it's fine. It's just. Rack isn't partial to the floppy eared. He's got a thing. But I'm in. Absolutely."

"Either way, just get me there."

"Say Rack does know where Willow is. He's not going to tell you for nothing. He's gonna want something."

"I've got money."

"I don't think that's the kind of something he's gonna want. Rack likes little girls."

"I'm not a little girl."

"I just, I don't know if you two thought this through. I'm supposed to keep you both safe and this whole thing is. I mean, even if you guys find Willow, you really think you can stop her?" Dawn looked at Clem, not sure what to say.

…

Buffy and Angel were walking through the streets of Sunnydale near where Rack's place used to be and where Dawn and Clem are nearby.

"Are you getting anything?" Buffy asked.

"Not yet." Angel said.

"God. This suck's."

"We'll find her. Just have faith."

"If we don't find her."

"We will. Don't worry; she still had some bit of humanity in her. Maybe we can reach that. Liam said we can."

"Hope he's right. Really wish he could have warned us about all this."

"He probably didn't want us taking things into our own hands. We might mess up the future."

"Even more than it already is?"

"He just wants us to turn out ok."

"I get that. But he keeps secrets and doesn't tell us a whole lot. And when hell breaks loose, he usually has a hand in it."

"He's just collecting all the good cards to play out later."

"Just wish he could let us in more on his plans. You know, let us help."

"After everything we've been through, what we will go through, he probably just wants to spare us some of the stress."

"So that he can have all of it? No. No son of mine is going to kill himself over having to save the future."

"Well maybe after this we can talk to him about it."

…

In Rack's waiting room, Clem entered through the shimmery magic wall, looked around, and walked farther inside. Dawn appeared behind him holding Connor.

"Yay, Clem, making with the demon senses! I knew you'd find this place." Dawn cheered for Clem.

Clem looked around nervously. "It's not very clean." He said.

"Don't wig out on me again."

"It's just, I'm still not so sure you should be here. I'm not so sure 'I' should be here."

"It'll only take a minute. Here, watch him." Dawn handed Clem the sleeping Connor. "Wait here for me."

"If that works for you..." Clem said looking relieved.

"And don't do anything to him that would piss off Buffy." Dawn warned.

"Don't worry. I like kids." Dawn gave him a look. "Not that kind of like. You know the 'I like kids because they're fun and joyful'."

"Just watch him ok. Be right back." Dawn left Clem in the waiting room and opened the door to another room. Clem looked around and sighed nervously.

Dawn looked around the inner room. "Willow?" Dawn asked to the air. She turned slowly, and suddenly came face-to-face with Rack - hanging upside down, with his head at Dawn's eye-level, dead. Dawn screamed and whimpered. Then she turned frantically toward the door. But Willow was in the way.

"Hey, cutie." Willow said. Dawn stared in horror. Willow's hair was all black, her eyes were all black, and dark veins were visible all over her face. She gave a little smile. "Dawnie, what are you doing here? 'Cause if you're looking for me? Now's not a great time."

"You look terrible."

"Do I?" Willow started to move closer to Dawn.

"You're back on the magicks."

"No, honey. I am the magicks.

"Did you kill that guy?" Dawn asked as she backed away from Willow as she approached her.

Willow shrugged. "It's an improvement, believe me."

"I have to go." Dawn rushed past Willow and toward the door, then gave a little yelp of fear as Willow was in front of her again, blocking the door.

"Why? So you can run and tell Buffy?"

"Willow ... please, just listen to me."

"You don't have to talk. Just think real loud. I can hear you." Willow advanced again, and Dawn backed away.

"You're freaking me out.

"Oh, don't be like that. I'm just a little wired. And I have some things to do. I thought if anybody'd understand…"

"I miss Tara, too!" Willow stopped cold and glared. "But this? What you're doing here? This is not the way to go! You're only going to make things worse! But I promise, it's not too late to…"

"You miss her?" Willow interrupted.

"Yes." Dawn answered sounding shocked.

"Did you cry? Of course you did. I get that." Willow resumed walking toward Dawn, and Dawn resumed backing away.

"I understand the crying, you cry because you're human. But you weren't always."

"Yes, I was." Dawn said sounding hurt.

"No, please. You're telling me you don't remember? You used to be some ... mystic ball of energy. Maybe that's why you're crying all the time, Dawnie. 'Cause you don't belong here." Dawn backed away from Willow and was met by the wall. "Wanna go back? End the pain? You'll be happier. I'll be happier. We'll all be a lot happier without listening to the constant whining."

"Willow, stop..." Dawn pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"'Mom!' 'Buffy!' 'Tara!' 'Waah!'" Willow mocked Dawn. "It's time you go back to being a little energy ball." Dawn was very scared. "No more tears, Dawnie." Dawn whimpered and pressed her back up against the wall. Willow smiled a little and advanced right up to Dawn. There was a loud bang from behind her and Willow turned to see Buffy standing in the doorway.

"I think you need to get away from her." Buffy said. Dawn took her advantage and ran past Buffy where she was met by Angel holding Connor.

…

In the Magic Shop, Liam was by the door and peering out the closed blinds with his gun drawn. Delia was sitting at the round table, her chair leaned back and she was staring off into space. Anya sat behind the counter with the magic book open in front of her, a notebook next to her, and a pen in her hand. Xander stood right behind her looking at another book.

"You're too close." Anya said to Xander.

"How am I supposed to read?" Xander asked.

"I don't know, I'm staring right at this stuff and I can't read it."

"Well, how's the translation coming?" Anya gave a very annoyed look. "What have we got so far?

Anya sighed. "So far we've got 'the.' Well, either 'the' or 'towards,' I'm not really sure. I can't do this. I'm in retail. Stupid ancient Sumerian."

"I'm pretty sure it's Babylonian." Johnathon said form the other side of the counter. Anya and Xander looked up at him. "The text is similar, but the dialect is completely different."

"Great. Babylonian. Thanks a bushel. But unless you can read Babylonian, why don't you sit back down." Anya shot back. Jonathan went back to sit next to Andrew again.

"Why are you helping them?" Andrew asked softly.

"Because they're saving our lives, you moron." Johnathon said.

"Uh-huh. And what then? Even if they kill that Wicca bitch, you think they're just gonna let us walk? They own us."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Look around. You know magic. We're in a magic shop. We can take them." Jonathan looked at him incredulously. "The books are sucked dry, but so what? There's still like tons of supplies all around us. This is the best chance we're gonna get to make it out of here."

"And do what?"

"Start over. We can be a Duo. You and me. You can even be the leader, I swear, I'll take orders." Jonathan looked contemplative over Andrew's proposal. "I like taking orders. Just tell me what to do."

Jonathan looked like he's considering it. "You want an order?" Johnathon asked. Suddenly he jumped up, grabbed Andrew by the front of his shirt, and slammed him against a bookcase. "Grow up."

"Children, play nice, or I'll test out my new move on you two." Delia threatened not breaking her staring off into space look.

"And all of her moves end badly for the things she does them on." Liam said coming over. Jonathan let go of Andrew.

"And Willow will make you two boneless chickens skinless, too." Xander added.

"And then what? You think your little witch buddy's gonna stop with us?" Andrew shot back at all of them. Everyone glared at him. "You saw her! She's a truck-driving Magic Mama! And we've got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds everybody into Jawa-burgers, and not one of you bunch has the midichlorians to stop her."

"Did he really just use some sorta Starwars reference on us?" Delia asked.

"Which means he hasn't had the tinniest bit of sex, have you? Xander asked.

"The annoying virgin has a point. What if Willow fillets their soles and then comes after us?" Anya asked.

"She won't."

"You don't know that."

"We're her friends, Anya. Her family. She would never hurt us."

"Don't count on it." Liam said. Xander and Anya looked at him. "The way you all told me the story, Willow was bent of vengeance that she didn't care if she hurt friend or foe. Civilian or not, she would move mountains literally if they were in her way."

"Right. Because Willow decided after her vengeance adventure, she would tell you just that." Xander said.

"Actually yes." Liam said. Xander looked a little surprised. Liam sighed before continuing. "You stopped her. You all did. Willow returned to normal and got help. When I was learning a little bit of magic, Willow told me the dangers of abusing magic and told us the story of her going dark. She kept reminding us every time she thought we would go over the edge. If it wasn't for her….let's just say the world would have ended a lot sooner if it wasn't for her teaching us right from wrong."

"I'm still a little bit blaming you for everything. You knew and coulda told us."

"So what? So you all could go off and kill him? To send him to jail so that he could break out again? Sorry Xander but neither of those options would have worked." Xander shook his head at Liam. Liam took a few steps towards him. "Xander…There is a lot that I'm trying to do, to save the future. To change it. But the one thing I don't want to change is you guys. What you've become. What you will be. You guys were my heroes. Especially you Xander." Xander looked at Liam stunned. So did Anya. "Xander you were the greatest hero out of everyone. You had no powers what so ever. And yet you face nightmares that other people could hardly dream about and you still crack a joke at the end of the day. You were so human and you helped save the world on so many occasions. You are what kept a lot of us grounded. You taught us to keep our humanity." Xander looked away from Liam to absorb everything that Liam just told him. He was a hero in the future. He had no powers and he was the greatest hero out of everyone. He never though in his dreams that he would be that kind of guy. Everyone else starred at Xander and Liam for what they just heard. Everyone was speechless.

"What are you guys talking about?" Andrew asked. Everyone looked towards him.

"Wait, you don't know?" Liam asked Andrew.

"Know what?" Johnathon asked. Liam snickered a bit.

"Wow, and here I thought you guys knew who I was."

"We saw you a few times, we never knew exactly who you were. But we all thought you were related to Angel in some way because you look so much like him." Andrew said.

"You're not wrong." Delia muttered under her breathe.

"But let's not worry about that right now." Xander said. "Right now, let's focus on saving Willow. How do we do it?"

"Like I said before, just talk to her." Liam said. "Even if it seems hopeless, even she doesn't want to talk or listen, you talk to her and she'll come back. Just gotta push it."

"Wow, that's very clear." Anya said sarcastically.

"Hey, my dad was cryptic and I got that from him."

…

Buffy was facing a dark Willow. Dawn had hurried behind Buffy to safety with Angel who was holding Connor. "You need to back down and think a minute Will." Buffy said.

"Wasn't gonna hurt her. Buzzkill." Willow said.

"She tried to turn me back." Dawn said.

"You're attacking the people who love you now?" Buffy asked.

"Only the ones in my way."

"That's not… you need help."

"Doing fine on my own, thanks."

"Angel take Dawn and Connor and get them out of here." Buffy ordered. Angel guided Dawn towards the door, but it slammed and locked.

"Don't we're all friends." Willow said.

"I know what you want to do, Willow, but listen to me: the forces inside you are incredibly powerful. They're strong, but you're stronger. Just remember, you're still Willow."

"Let me tell you something about Willow: she's a loser. And she always has been. Everyone picked on Willow in junior high, high school, up until college with her stupid mousy ways and now, Willow's a junkie."

"I can help. WE can help."

"The only thing Willow was ever good for, the only thing going for me, were those moments, when Tara would look at me and I was wonderful. And that will never happen again."

"I know this hurts. Bad. But Will, if you let loose with the Magicks now, it will never end."

"Promise?"

"You don't want that."

"Why not?"

"Because you lose everything. Your friends, yourself. You let this control you and the world goes away. That's not... Willow, there's so much to."

"Ack! Please! This is your pitch? You hate it here as much as I do. I'm just more honest about it."

"That's not true, not anymore."

"You're trying to sell me on the world. The one where you lie to your friends when you're not trying to kill them and you screwed a vampire just to feel and insane asylums are the comfy alternative. Then you go and get married cause you're pregnant with his kid! Oh, and let's not forget that your son comes back in time just to change the future from going to hell. Please! This world? Buffy, it's me! This world is full of pain. And I can stop it." The whole time Willow had been talking, the rooms had changed. "You know, with magic." Willow finished. Buffy and Angel looked around to find the Magic Box. Dawn was standing next to Buffy. "Sorry. It can be kind of a rough trip if you're, you know, not me."

Dawn staggered and fell to the floor. "Dawn." Buffy and Angel went to help her and they collapsed too. Connor woke up and started crying from the magic affecting him.

"Mom! Dad!" Liam yelled as soon as he saw them all appear. Xander, Anya, Delia, Johnathon, and Andrew were now all aware of the fact that four beings and baby suddenly appeared in the shop.

Willow spotted Jonathan and Andrew. She turned to them. "Jonathan, Andrew, you boys like magic, don't you?" Willow asked.

"I do." Liam responded and sent a telekinetic push at Willow, knocking her off her feet and she landed a few feet away. Delia and Xander rushed over to Buffy, Angel, and Dawn and helped them all up to their feet.

Willow got back up. "Sorry, I'm a solo girl myself." She said.

"Hope you don't mind competition." Liam said walking up the steps to Willow.

"Oh, I don't mind. I rather enjoy destroying my competition."

"Liam, she killed a warlock and stole his magic." Dawn warned Liam.

"Thanks, but I already know how this works." Liam said not breaking eye contact with Willow.

"Oh yeah, you're the one who knows everything about the past." Willow said.

"I like history."

"Well history's going to change."

"Don't I know it." Liam raised his hand just as Willow did the same. They both sent different magic blasts at each other. Willow sent a black light blast as Liam shot an energy ball. The magicks collided and sent a shockwave out that shook the entire shop.

"You're good. I'm better." Willow sent another blast at Liam and he ducked out of the way, rolled, pulled out his gun, and pointed it at Willow. "That won't work on me."

Liam smiled and fired his gun. He missed Willow and the bullet hit a bottle on the shelf right behind Willow. The bottle broke and liquid and glass splashed on Willow. She flinched and that gave Liam enough time to speed over and land a strong uppercut to Willow, lifting her up and she crashed into the shelves, breaking them. She slumped to the ground.

"You're stronger. I'm smarter." Liam said back. Willow got up and sent another blast at Liam.

Liam jumped out of the way. "Strike one." Willow sent another blast. Liam dodged again. "Strike two." Willow had enough. She used telekinesis and sent a book case at Liam. Liam dodged it without effort but it gave Willow an opening. She shot another blast at him and she hit home. Liam fell to the ground apparently dead.

"LIAM!" Buffy screamed.

"NO!" Delia yelled.

"Homerun." Willow said and turned her attention back to Johnathon and Andrew. "Now where was I? Oh right. Magic." Willow raised her hands and a dark light came from them "Abra Cadabra." Willow blasted them, but a magical shield blocked them. "Ok, I didn't see that coming." She stopped.

"W…What just happened?" Andrew asked.

"We're alive!" Jonathan exclaimed.

"You want to take it slow? I can do that too. Just ask Warren." Willow said.

"No." Buffy said. Willow shot at the guys again with the dark light, but she was blocked again. Anya was hiding in a nook around the corner, holding the magic book and muttering in Sumerian, or possibly Babylonian. She looked nervously around the corner and looked back down at the book, continuously chanting.

"Let's get out of here!" Jonathan said.

"No, no, stay." Willow said. She gestured to the training room door and it slammed shut. Jonathan and Andrew each grabbed a sword. "I mean we're just gettin' started. I got all kinds of big party plans."

Buffy collected her strength and stood up. "Will."

"Don't." Angel said, also getting warily to his feet.

"Guys... c'mon. I'm getting the wood for the violence here. And you know what they say: if at first you don't succeed..." Willow shot at Jonathan and Andrew again. Still, nothing happened to them. "Damn, this is one effective counter-spell. Won't keep you alive though."

Willow heard a clicking sound from behind her and turned around. Liam was standing behind her, completely unharmed from the blast she threw at him, with his gun pointed directly at her forehead. "Oops." He said before shooting her in the head. Willow's head jerked back and she crumpled to the ground. Liam lowered his gun and looked upon Willow's body. Everyone stared at the scene before them in shock.

"Did you…?" Dawn began to ask.

"That won't stop her for long." Liam said. Willow's eyes shot open and she stood up. The bullet that was lodged in her head came out through the hole and the wound healed.

"That won't stop her at all." Delia said.

"That….hurt!" Willow said.

"Was meant to." Liam said and threw another energy ball at Willow, hitting her in the stomach and making her stumble.

"This will hurt more." Willow sent a blast to Liam but nothing happened.

"Will, stop. You have to give this up, now." Buffy said.

Willow ignored her. "Oh, I get it. You boys put a spell on yourselves didn't you? On everyone here. Protecting you from harm from Magicks. That's cute." Buffy grabbed Willow, but she ignored the slayer and shrugged her off. "I used to be cute. Now I'm just incredibly powerful, so, whatever the problem is, I know it's not me."

Buffy stepped between Willow and the boys. "Will, back off before anybody else gets hurt."

"How bout I back off right after?" Willow looked at the boys. "So which one of you worked the mojo? Doesn't matter really. I'm just curious. Just because I can't do Magicks to you, doesn't mean I can't do 'em on myself." Willow looked down at herself. "DAH MEE-hee WIM." A black energy surrounded her and sent Buffy and Liam flying back into some bookshelves.

"Buffy!" Angel yelled.

"Liam!" Delia yelled.

"All right. Now, I'm pretty sure I'm strong enough..." Willow turned the table over, "to beat you to death."

Willow went for the boys, but Buffy came up and blocked her path. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Not a problem." Willow rushed at the boys, but stopped and spun back towards Buffy. She was trying to scare the boys a little.

"I said I didn't want to." Buffy punched Willow so hard that she went flying into the shelves that separated the table from the front of the shop. "Didn't say I wouldn't."

Willow looked up at Buffy in shock. Angel and Liam came to stand behind her. Buffy noticed Delia herding Xander, Connor, Dawn, Andrew, and Jonathan towards the door.

"Go get out. Xander take them somewhere safe." Delia said.

"Got it." Xander replied.

"What about Willow?" Jonathan asked.

"The Summers family can handle her."

"Are you sure?" Dawn asked.

"No, that's why we're leaving. Come on." Xander headed towards the door with them then turned to bring Anya too.

"I have to stay to keep the spell going on Willow." Anya said.

"But."

"Do something right!"

Willow saw them leave and she screamed, "No!" Xander looked back.

"Go." Angel told them.

Willow stood and faced the family. She smiled a little. "So, here we are."

"Are we really going to do this?" Buffy asked.

"COME ON! This is a huge deal for me. Six years as a sideman and now I get to be the slayer."

"A killer isn't a slayer. Being a slayer means something you can't conceive of."

"Oh, Buffy! You married a killer. Bred another. You're blind. You really need to have every square inch of your ass kicked."

Buffy looked at Angel, then at Liam, and then back at Willow. "Then show me what you got. And I'll show you what a slayer really is."

Willow attacked. She threw punch after punch at Buffy who blocked them. Willow tried to hit Angel, but Buffy caught her arm and spun her, nearly breaking her arm. Willow came back around and kicked Buffy into one of the side bookshelves. Then she looked at the ladder and it flew at Buffy, pinning her to the bookshelf. She tried to escape, but a barrage of books, statues, and a chair came flying at her. Angel jumped at Willow and brought her down as Liam helped get the ladder off of Buffy. Willow threw Angel away and Buffy had to dodge his flying body. Liam looked at Willow and began to fire his gun at her. The bullets ricochet off of Willow. Once he was empty, Willow threw and punch and Liam bent over backwards to dodge the blow. Buffy leaped over Liam bent form and flew into a tackle and brought Willow back to the floor. Buffy landed on top and Willow pushed her off.

"Get off super bitch!" Buffy stood up in time to receive a sidekick that flung her through the glass counter. Angel tossed Willow back and Buffy was up and grabbing onto Willow.

"I can help you stop." Buffy said.

"I thought you were going to show me what a slayer was." Willow said. Willow punched Buffy again and she went through the counter and the curtains revealing Anya casting the spell. Angel's and Liam's eyes widened and Angel rushed at Willow, but she flung him back magically, knocking him out.

"Dad!" Liam ran over to check on him.

"Well, hey. Isn't that interesting?" Willow said. Buffy stood to try to get between Anya and Willow. "Anya's still here." Willow shoved Buffy onto the front room table. ".chanting her little heart out. And I think I've been beating the wrong gal." Anya tried to run, but Willow grabbed her and lifted her up by the throat.

"HELP ME!" Anya cried.

"Can't block my spells if you can't chant. Can't chant if you're sleepin'." Willow threw Anya into the back wall of the Magic Box. Buffy stood and tried to rush Willow, but stopped short when the witch turned on her. "Buffy, I gotta tell ya: I get it now. The slayer thing really ISN'T about the violence. It's about the power." As Willow said this, a black energy formed around her and then she shot it at Buffy. Buffy soared into Giles' desk and went out for a few seconds.

"Mom!" Liam yelled.

"Dad's down. Mom's down. Let's add the son." Willow said. Liam stood up with a glare. Willow raised her hand and shot at Liam with a blast. Nothing happened. Willow was surprised that Liam wasn't affected. Liam smirked. "What? Who else is here chanting?"

"No one." Liam said and pulled out the amulet that he took off of the Romanian warlord back on his honeymoon. "Just an amulet."

"An amulet? Cliché much?"

"It's a classic."

"So I can't hit you with magic."

"No. But I can hit you." Liam raised his arm and shot a bolt of lightning at Willow, hitting her in the shoulder. She spun in the air before landing hard on her ass. "Thanks for the lessons by the way."

Willow got up to her feet. "So I taught you."

"Everything I know. Including how you went evil and how you never wanted that to happen again. You taught me the difference between right and wrong when it came to magic."

"Well here's a lesson for you. Never try to match the teacher."

"Oh I'm no longer the learner." Liam shot another blast at Willow and she went tumbling back over a table and smashing into so more bookcases. "It's your turn now." Willow got back up and faced Liam. Liam shot another blast of lightning at her and Willow blocked it with magic. The blast went back Liam but it didn't faze him. Willow ran at him and dodged another blast. She rolled on the floor and kicked Liam's feet, making him fall to the floor. Willow got up and tried to stop on his face but Liam rolled out of the way. Liam leaped up and both he and Willow exchanged blow after blow, blocking one another. Liam spun kick at Willow and she caught the foot. Liam used it as a step and hit willow with his other foot, sending her to the ground. She got up and smiled at Liam. "What are you looking so smug about?" Liam asked. Willow held up the amulet that Liam use to have around his neck. Liam's eyes grew wide. Willow crushed the amulet in her hand and it broke. "Oh shit." Willow shot a blast and Liam went flying into the opposite wall. He slumped to the ground unconscious.

"And there's no one in the world with the power to stop me now." Willow said. Buffy, Angel, and Liam looked up groggily just as Willow was hit by a green blast of energy. She went flying back onto the marble floor and slid to a stop. When she looked up, her nose was bleeding. Then she looked up at the door.

Everyone followed her eyes and saw Giles standing in the doorway. "I'd like to test that theory." He said.

**Here endeth the chapter, and the story is just about finished. I'll try to post the very last chapter of this book before my school starts again. Expect a chapter sometime by Monday night or Tuesday at latest. Comment and Review.**


	30. Grave

Chapter 30: Grave

**Hey guys. Sorry for the late update again. I promised that I would post two weeks ago, but then school happened and I've been busy ever since. Whatever down time I have, I try to work on my story. And this is it. The end of **_**Future Complications**_**. I will post a chapter after this with details about the next book. It's already in my head. I only have to put it down on paper. However next book will be more my imagination than canon. So there will be a lot of hiatus' between chapters. Not to mention that I have school to do. But I will always keep writing whenever I have the chance. Now back to the story. The end of this book. And the start of the new one. Enjoy.**

"Giles?" Buffy said, turning back to look at her watcher who just appeared.

Anya was standing and helping Angel to stand. "Giles!" Anya said.

"Giles!" Angel said.

"Grandpa!" Liam said happily, also getting up. Giles walked a little further into the room, never taking his eyes off Willow.

"Uh oh. Daddy's home." Willow sat up. "I'm in wicked trouble now."

"You've no idea." Giles said. "You have to stop what you're doing."

"Ooh, sorry, can't do that. I'm not finished yet."

"Neither am I." He gestured for her get back down on the floor. "Stay down." Willow hit the floor.

"How did you." Angel asked.

"New trick from the old dog. That's borrowed power. No way it's strong enough to…" Willow started.

"I'm here to help you." Giles cut her off.

"Thanks, but I can kill a couple of geeks by myself. But, hey, if you'd like to watch. I mean, that's what you watchers are good at, right? Watching. Butting in on things that don't concern you."

"You concern me, Willow. Stay on this path and you're going to wind up dead."

Buffy stood painfully and went to Giles' side. "Willow. Listen to him. I don't want to fight you anymore."

"None of us do Willow." Liam said standing behind Buffy.

"I don't want to fight you either, I wanna fight him." Willow said eyeing Liam. Willow stood and Liam tried to keep her down.

"Willow stay down." Liam said.

"No." Willow waved her hand and looked hard at Liam. A low hum began to emanate from her. "Remember we had that little talk we had while cleaning up that vampire mess you made? When you came back a monster? You called me a first year, rank, arrogant amateur? Well, buckle up son..." Her eyes turned black and a glow started to form around her. "Cause I've turned pro." She looked around, then back at Giles. "Asmodea, bring forth."

"Vincire!" Giles said. A green blob of energy shot from his hand and wound around Willow's middle, pinning her arms down.

"What.? No! Off me.! Solvo Libero." Willow tried to cast a spell, but her head shot back and she went into a trance like state. She was floating like that when Buffy looked at Giles.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Contained her and her powers within a binding field. It puts her in a kind of stasis for the time." Giles finally looked at Buffy for the first time since he arrived. "You cut your hair!" Giles said, shocked.

Buffy just laughed. "You're just now noticing?"

"Well…I…I…I was a little focused on…" Buffy cut him off by throwing her arms around him. Giles hugged her back. Anya and Angel came to stand next to them.

"I'm blonde." Anya said. "I colored my hair. Again. I'm blonde."

"Yes, I noticed." Giles said. Anya hugs Giles too and he hugs her back.

"Well, we didn't do anything to our hairs but can we get a hug?" Liam asked. Buffy and Giles chuckled. He let them go and for the first time, Giles and Angel hugged. Then Giles turned to his grandson and they both hugged. Giles had a nice smile on his face while Liam had a very wide grin. Buffy smiled. Her family was now all back together.

"It is good to see you all." Giles said when they pulled apart.

"You too." Angel replied.

"I do hope you're taking care of my slayer."

"There's nothing in the world more important to me."

"Besides your children." Liam pointed out.

"Right. Besides them."

"Good." Giles walked up to Willow and looked at her. "I'm very sorry about Tara."

Willow's head lolled to the side so she could look at him. "This…won't hold…me….forever."

…

Buffy, Angel, Liam, and Giles stood in the training room talking. Anya was out in the shop trying to clear some of the rubble.

"I came as soon as I heard." Giles said.

"Did the council…?" Angel asked.

"The Council hasn't a clue. About much of anything, really."

"I could've told you that much." Liam said.

"There's a powerful coven in Devonshire. They sensed the rise of a dangerous magical force here. A dark force, fueled by grief."

"Willow." Buffy said.

"I hoped not. Then a seer in the coven told me about Tara... That's when the coven imbued me with their powers."

"And sent you to bring Willow down." Liam said.

"Buffy, what's happened here? Things seemed perfect when I was here not too long ago."

"God. I don't know where to start." Buffy said.

"Liam?" Giles looked to his grandson.

Liam sighed. "Cliff notes. Saved my brother, saved my wife, tried to save Tara. Didn't go as planned." Liam summed up.

"Well, Willow's clearly been abusing the majicks." Giles said.

"She has. She was…and I barely even noticed. Everything's been so... Liam saved Connor and Delia, Wesley isn't a traitor, Xander left Anya at the altar and Anya became a demon again. Spike and Faith had another fight and they're now both missing." Buffy said. Giles stared at her. She started to say something, but Giles started to laugh. He covered his mouth with his hand but couldn't stop. She stared at him, not believing that he could laugh at her.

"Sorry." Giles said trying to calm down. He burst out laughing again. Then Angel started to laugh too along with Liam. Buffy rolled her eyes, now just looks amused. Giles keeps laughing and slowly Buffy starts to laugh too. They all laughed so hard that they were crying. It didn't get any better as the family told Giles everything that had happened since he left.

"Duct tape?" Giles asked through his laughter and tears.

"Over their mouths! Then I'm letting the demon eat them!" Buffy answered.

"Because their just figments?"

"All of it! You, Sunnydale... And I'm a nutcase in L.A.!"

"Of course! Why didn't we see it before?"

"And then…and then I break free and stabbed her in the heart!" Liam said through his laughter.

"You killed your own mother!?"

"Brought her back, didn't he?" Angel said. That made them laugh harder. After a few more minutes, they finally caught their breaths. Buffy held her stomach.

"Can you forgive me?" Giles asked.

"For what?" Buffy asked.

"I should never have left."

"Oh, Giles... You were right to leave. We're just... stupid."

"But I know you're all stupid. I shouldn't have abandoned you."

"No. You were right about everything. It is time I was an adult. I'm a mother and a wife. I should be doing things by myself now."

"Sometimes the most adult thing you can do is ask for help when you need it."

"Now you tell me." Buffy chuckled. "Guess the thing is... I was so used to how things were… I didn't want them to change. I had my son back. Then I was blessed with another son. It just took a while for that feeling to go away... The feeling that my family was leaving. First mom, then Liam, then he comes back but leaves again. Then you did. I wanted my family with me." She looked over to Liam. "Guess I now know how you feel in all this." Liam smiled.

"Family is never going to leave you Buffy. We may be gone from everyday life but we are never gone for good."

"We'll always be here for you Buffy." Angel reassured her. He put an arm around her and kissed her temple.

"And we will drop everything to help you." Liam added.

"Right." Buffy nodded. "What's going to happen to Willow?"

"The coven is working on a way to extract her powers without killing her." Giles said. "And should she survive, you ought to know... There's no guarantee she'll be... as she was." Buffy looked down. "Willow killed a human being, Buffy. How will she be able to live with herself?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Willow's voice said behind them. They all turned and stared at a floating Anya. Then Willow moved Anya over, revealing that she was picking the girl up by the neck. "Willow doesn't live here anymore." She threw Anya aside. Buffy rushed Willow, but Willow threw up a hand and Buffy went flying back into Angel and they both went down. Liam shot an energy ball at her and she deflected it back at him. This time his shot hit him and he flew back into the wall. He slumped to the floor.

Giles held up a hand. "Vincire!"

Willow waved the green blob away. "Solutom." She wagged a finger at Giles. "Fool me once." Willow looked at the knives on the wall and they came off their hooks and pointed at Giles.

"Willow."

"Shame on you!" The knives flew at Giles.

"TEGO!" Giles called. The practice dummy came to rest in front of him and the knives stuck in it. Willow just grunted and waved the dummy away. Giles looked determined. He made a ball of magic in his hand and threw it at Willow. "Excudo!" Willow was thrown back through the brick wall and slammed into one of the pillars that held up the upper loft and fell to the floor in a shower of brick and debris. Willow stood up and turned to look back into the training room. Her black clothes were now dirty and she had a cut along her cheek.

"That all you got Jeeves?" she asked. "Cause I could stand to go another ten rounds. Whereas you can barely stand, period." Giles stood in the training room doorway. He was very tired and his clothes were dirty as well.

"Your powers... may be significantly greater... But I can still hurt you. If I have to."

"Hurt me? Boy, you just don't get it, do you? Nothing can hurt me anymore. This?" She pointed to her wounds then took her hand and waved it in front of her face. The wounds disappeared. "Is nothing. It's all nothing."

"I see. You lose someone you love and the other people in your life... The ones who care about you become meaningless." The family came up behind Giles, watching the scene unfold before them. "I wonder. What would Tara say about that?"

"You can ask her yourself." Willow said grimly. She lifted her hand and sent a bolt of magic towards Giles. Buffy rushed forward, pushed Giles forward and out from under the loft. And just in time, as the latest magical blast destroyed the loft's stability and the whole thing came tumbling down.

"Buffy!" Angel said just as the loft fell on him and Liam too. Buffy and Giles landed in a heap on the floor, books and rubble rained down on them. Buffy lifted herself up on her elbows to look at Willow.

"You all are always saving everyone. It's kinda pesky." Willow bent down and stuck her hand in the fire. When she came back up, there was a ball of fire burning on her hand. "You probably even think you're buying escape time for Jonathan and the other one."

"Andrew." Liam said emerging from the rubble with Angle.

"Well, I got a little secret for ya... I can kill them from anywhere I want. Anytime I want." The flame started to spin and grow. "With this. It'll find them. And it'll bury them. Along with anyone helping those Dead Men Walking."

"Don't." Buffy said standing up painfully.

"Unless. Somebody, somehow. Can get there in time to save them. Huh, oh well." She threw the ball up into the air. It burst through the ceiling, leaving a large hole. "Fly, my pretty. Fly." The ball of fire disappeared through the hole. "See what I did there?"

The family looked down at Giles. "Go!" he said. Buffy and Angel took off. Liam stayed behind. "Liam, go!"

"I ain't going anywhere." Liam said determinedly.

"Well, now I finally have you all to myself." Willow said to Liam.

"Sorry. Belong to another girl." Liam said taking a stance, ready for whatever Willow was going to throw at him.

Buffy and Angel looked up into the sky as the fireball flew overhead. They ran even faster after it. The fireball was moving at a fast speed and they had a hard time keeping up with it.

…

Willow was pacing back and forth in the war-torn magic box. "You're both such hypocrites. Waltzing in here with your borrowed magicks. So you can tell me what? Magic's bad? Behave? Be a good girl?" Willow said. She chuckled. "Well, I ... I don't think either of you are in any position to be telling me what to do." Willow looked up. Giles was pinned against the ceiling, groaning in pain. "Do you?" Willow looked forward. Liam was pinned to the wall. Not in so much pain as Giles. Willow gestured with one finger and Giles fell to the floor. He landed hard, on his stomach, and stayed down, making pained faces. He had blood all over his face. Liam fell down and got on all fours, breathing hard. "I used to think you had all the answers. That I had so much to learn from you." Willow said scornfully.

"Willow..." Giles tried to say. She gestured again. Giles flew up to the ceiling again, groaning as he slammed into it.

"Will, please. You need to stop." Liam said.

"You were jealous. Still are. Just couldn't bear that I was the one with power. That's why you told me about Tara and told me to stop using my magic."

"Actually, I was trying to prevent this."

"Incurso!" Giles said. Green magic flew from Giles's mouth and hit Willow.

"That's why you…" She stumbled backward from the magic blow, and Giles fell to the floor again.

"That ... was rude! Now I forgot what I was saying."

"Perhaps you're not as strong ... as you think you are." Giles said.

"Ah, you shouldn't have said that." Liam said under his breathe. Willow glared at Giles as he struggled to get up.

"You're expending way too much of your mystical energy to maintain your powers. At this rate you're going to ... burn out. And up."

"Blah blah blah." Willow said annoyed.

Giles managed to get himself to his knees. "Willow, you ... you need to stop."

"What I need..." Suddenly she moved forward with magic speed and was next to Giles, grabbing him. "...is a little pick-me-up." She was about to put her other hand on Giles' chest, but it was grabbed by Liam who was standing up right.

"Not's enough." Liam said and threw Willow off of Giles. "Stay down." He directed to both of them. Giles stayed down. Willow did not.

"Ready for round two?" Willow asked.

"1, zip, my favor. Think you can even it?"

"So cocky. Think you know everything about everything."

"Just what's important."

"What's important to me right now…is how I'm going to put you in your place, buddy boy."

"Bring it witch bitch." Willow shot a blast of magic at Liam and Liam dodged it before shooting her with another energy ball. Willow deflected it, pointed her hand at a piece of pillar and threw it at Liam. Liam caught it and the momentum sent him back a few feet, but he was still standing. He threw the debris back at Willow and she blew it up in front of her. Liam ran at her and punched her full in the face. She flew back and Liam took out his tomahawk and knife, clasped them together and extended them to make his makeshift scythe. Willow got up and saw Liam's new toy.

"Men and their toys. A real girl prefers the man alone." Willow taunted.

"Don't not it till you try it baby." Liam retorted. Liam lifted his hand and shot a blast of lightning at Willow. Willow blocked and absorbed it with a raise of her own hand. Liam stopped and Willow shot the blast back at him. Liam twirled the scythe in front of him, using it as a shield, and caught the entire blast of lighting. His weapon glowed with magic. As soon as Willow stopped, Liam spun 360 and aimed the scythe as if it were a rifle, with the knife end pointing at Willow. The lightning he caught shot out and hit Willow in the chest, sending her back into the front part of the magic shop. "Thank you Kathy." Liam breathed.

"Didn't expect that." Willow said getting up.

Liam twirled the scythe and walked slowly forward. "I'm full of surprises." Willow stood up and shot more magic at Liam. Liam used the axe head as a conduit and gathered up the magic. He painted the knife and redirected the magic at the ceiling above Willow. The magic blew a hole in the ceiling and debris fell down on top of Willow. Liam pointed his sister's scythe at Willow. "Had enough?"

"Not yet." Willow said. In a second, Willow was gone. Liam looked behind him and saw to his horror, Willow holding Giles and with her hand in his chest and it glowed with orange-red energy. Giles gasped in pain. She was draining the magic out of Giles. Suddenly she let him go and staggered backward. Giles fell over on his back. "Whoa. Head rush." She stumbled against the counter and slid down it to sit on the floor, her image blurring. She gasped and panted with pleasure. "Wow. Whoa. Who's your supplier? This is ... wow." Liam rushed over to Giles who was barely conscious. "It's incredible. I mean, I am so juiced ... Giles, it's like ... no ... mortal person has ... ever had ... this much power. Ever. It's like I, I'm connected to everything ... I can feel ... it feels like ... I ... I can feel..." She paused and her smile began to fade. "...everyone. Oh. Oh my God. All the emotion. All the pain. No, it, it's too much. It's just too much."

"Willow ... It doesn't have to be ... like that. You ... you can stop it." Giles said weakly.

"No!" Liam said.

Willow bent over with her hands on the floor as if in pain. "Yeah. I, I can. I have to stop this." Willow panted. She got up. "I'll make it go away."

"Willow..."

"Oh, you poor bastards!" Magic began to swirl around Willow and she lifted into the air. Lightning flashed around her body. "Your suffering has to end."

"No." Liam ran at Willow and tried to grab her but he was blasted back. A cloud of magic like a tornado gathered around Willow and she disappeared.

"No..." Giles said.

…

In a cemetery Xander was kicking the door of a crypt, repeating "ow" with each kick. A few yards away Dawn stood watching him holding Connor. Delia had her sword drawn and was looking around, searching for any signs of danger. Jonathan and Andrew were at another crypt, using their swords in an attempt to pry the door open.

"You sure you don't want me to open it up like it was nothing?" Delia asked Xander.

Xander kicked the door again, still nothing happened. "No. I got it." Xander said and kept kicking. "Man, they've really tightened security up here lately. One too many squatters from the Hellmouth." Andrew and Jonathan walk toward Xander.

"Hide out in the cemetery. What a fantastic idea." Andrew said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'm working on a whole 'shut the hell up; pitch you might like too." Xander said back.

"Why don't you both shut up." Delia said looking at the two. "Look, we aren't going to get anything done if we keep shooting insults at each other. All of us our in a world of shit and we need all hands on deck if we're going to get out of this."

"Guys?" Dawn said noticing something behind them.

"Why don't you tell us how the hell we get out of this world of shit, future girl?" Xander shot back. "Because things just keep getting worse and worse and you and your hubby aren't doing jack."

"Guys?" Dawn said again.

"We're doing all we can. Believe it or not, we don't have all the answers and we are desperately looking for them while helping you guys with your apocalypses. We have more on our plate than you guys realize." Delia said angrily. "And some things we can't change, I'm sorry."

"GUYS!" Dawn shouted.

"What?" Xander and Delia said.

"What is that?" Everyone looked in Dawn's direction and saw fireball flying towards them.

"Move!" Angel shouted.

"Go! Get out of there!" Buffy screamed.

"Move! Now get out of the way!"

"Xander! Dawn! Look out!" Buffy reached Jonathan and Andrew and managed to tackle them out of the way. Angel only got to Dawn, Connor, and Delia. Xander was too late. He was blown back onto a headstone and knocked out.

Angel started to help Dawn and Delia up when the earth shook and gave way out from under them. They fell into a giant cavern filled with caskets hanging out of the earth. Delia grabbed Dawn and used herself as a cushion for her and baby Connor.

"Angel! Dawn! Connor! Delia! Hold on." Buffy crawled over to where they had fallen and peered in. Then suddenly the ground was gone and she fell down thirty feet. Dirt from hole rained down onto them. Buffy looked up, just in time to see one of the Geeks' swords falling at her. She rolled out of the way just in time. The sword landed with its point in the ground. She stood up and brushed herself off as the second sword fell next to the first. Angel came over and checked her out for any injuries. "I'm fine." She said. Angel kissed her and hugged her.

"Are you sure?" Angel asked.

"Yeah." She smiled. "What about you?"

"I'm fine too."

"Are you guys ok?" Buffy asked Dawn and Delia.

"Been better. I was really thinking about going to see a chiropractor but now forget it." Delia said stretching her back.

"I'm ok too. Don't think he is." Dawn said. In all of the chaos that erupted, Connor had woken up and started crying. Buffy came over to Dawn and took Connor, bouncing him up and down and shushing him.

"Sh. It's ok baby. It's ok. You're ok." Buffy said softly to him.

"Is he alright?" Angel asked coming over.

"Probably doesn't like the fact that Willow is evil and sent him into a cave." Buffy looked to Dawn. "I can't believe you took him out during a time like this."

"I wanted to help. And I didn't want to leave him alone." Dawn defended herself.

"When we get out of this, you are so grounded and will be on babysitting duty for the foreseeable future."

"Don't worry Dawn. Thirty years isn't so bad." Delia said. Dawn stared at her wide eyed. Delia looked to the parents. "Where's Liam?"

"Last we left him, he was fighting Willow back at the magic shop." Angel said.

"Alone? Is he crazy?" Delia scoffed. "Look who I'm talking about."

…

At the Magic Box, the door to the workout room opened and Anya came out. As she walked through the opening, the door fell off its hinges. Anya jumped and gasped, startled. Liam was coming to after being knocked back by Willow. He sat up and rubbed his head that had a bruise on the back. Anya saw him.

"Liam?" She called to him.

"Anya." Liam said.

Anya walked slowly into the main room, looking around at the destruction. Suddenly she spotted Giles. "Giles." She ran over and knelt next to Giles, who was lying on the floor with his eyes closed, unmoving. Liam came to more and slid over them. Anya shook Giles slightly. "Giles!"

"Grandpa!" Giles' eyes popped open, staring at the ceiling. Both Anya and Liam looked relieved.

"Anya. Liam." Giles said.

"I'm so sorry. Willow forced me to free her with her brain." Anya said sounding upset.

"Are you okay?" Liam asked worriedly.

"I can see..."

"Uh…that's good."

"Willow ... I can see her. She took the magic I had and ... now ... I know where she is. I can feel what ... Oh, God."

"Grandpa ... you have to rest."

"Silly boy. I'm dying."

"No you're not." Anya said alarmed.

"It's not your time. You're not supposed to die now. You may die in the next few years but you come back. You're not dying now." Liam said frantically. Anya looked at him confused.

"He dies and comes back?" She asked.

"Don't ask. Something to do with a prophecy and my parents and dad. Don't get me started."

"It was ... It was the only way. I thought we ... there'd be a chance ... now ... I know where Willow is. She's going to finish it."

"Finish what?" Anya asked.

"The world." Liam said. Anya stared at him. "I gotta get to Xander. Take care of him." Liam got up, scooped up his scythe, and rushed out of the destroyed magic shop with lightning fast speed.

…

Buffy and Delia were standing on a coffins, attempting to climb up the side of the hole. Dawn and Angel, holding a crying Connor, stood below, watched anxiously. The roots in Buffy's hands give way and she fell back onto the top of the coffin with a yell.

"Buffy!" Angel said. Dawn went over to her to check on her. Delia was doing a little better than Buffy did and climbed a little further up. Some dirt under her boot gave way and she fell too. She pulled out her sword quickly and stabbed it in the dirt wall. She fell a few feet and then stooped.

"That was close." She commented herself. "I'm almost there." She called to the rest.

"Be careful." Buffy yelled back.

"No shit." Delia whisper and tried to grab to some more roots. The dirt she had her sword in was weak and gave way before Delia grabbed some roots. She fell and lost her sword. She fell on her back again and her sword stabbed the ground about two inches from her head, cutting some hair. Delia turned her head to look at it before getting up and dusting herself off.

"You ok?" Dawn asked.

Yeah. Needed a trim." Delia said sarcastically. She grabbed her sword and sheathed it.

Buffy stared back up at the opening. "We have to get out of here!" Buffy stood up from the coffin and looked up. "XANDER!?"

"I think I saw him hit his head." Delia said.

"Damn it!"

"Buffy!" Angel said.

"Sorry. This is just really annoying!"

"This looks a little like Spike's old place. You know, under his crypt." Dawn said.

Buffy ignored Dawn and headed towards a coffin stuck in the dirt. She started to pull on it. Delia joined her after a second, but nothing happened.

"What are you doing?" Dawn asked.

"We can... pile up some of these... coffins. Give us some height. Maybe get out of her!" Buffy walked over to the sword that had nearly fallen on her face and picked it up. Delia unsheathed her sword and the two of them tried to pry the coffin out.

"Maybe one of the tunnels Spike uses is around here. We could use it to get to his place." Dawn said.

"Might be the safest plan at the moment." Angel said still trying to calm Connor down.

"Geez what's with him?" Delia said sounding annoyed.

"It has to be Willow. All this magic that's she using must be making him fussy or he knows what's going on."

"Well, I might just be feeling what he's feeling if anything happened to Liam."

"We all would be." Buffy said.

"Hello?" they heard a voice from above say.

"Liam?" Delia asked hopefully

"Sorry. Other handsome devil." Xander said.

"Xander?" Buffy and Angel moved to the opening.

"Is everyone ok down there? I hear a lot of crying."

"That's Connor." Buffy said.

"Nuff said."

"Jonathan and Andrew up there with you?" Buffy called.

Xander looked around. "No. They must've skedaddled while I was out. Weasels. Whoa." Xander cried as a piece of earth fell from under his hand.

"Xander, try to find a rope or something and get us out of here." Angel called.

"Right. Okay. I'll... take a look around."

"And hurry before..." Buffy started, but Anya popped into existence right next to her.

"Holy frijole!" Anya said.

"Anya! What are you doing here?" Angel asked.

"Where's Liam?" Delia asked.

"Where's Giles?" Buffy asked.

"He's…still at the Magic Shop." Anya said.

"Giles? Giles is here? You guys didn't tell me that!" Dawn said.

"Did he stop Willow?" Buffy asked.

"No."

"What about Liam?" Delia asked.

"No. And things just got a whole lot worse."

"How worse?" Buffy asked.

"End of the world worse. Willow's going to destroy it."

"She….she can do that?" Dawn asked.

"She can and she will when she gets to where she's going." Anya said.

"Where's that?" Angel asked.

"Big old satanic temple. On Kingman's Bluff."

"There's no temple on Kingman's Bluff." Buffy said.

"Yes there is." Angel told her. "Or, there used to be. It was a temple to Proserpexa."

"Proserpexa...? Who's she?"

"Way up there in the hierarchy of she-demons. Her followers intended to use her effigy to destroy the world. They all died when the temple got swallowed up in the earthquake of '32." Anya explained.

"So, seventy years later Willow's going to make their dreams come true?"

"She's going to drain the planet's life force, funnel its energy through Proserpexa's effigy, and burn the Earth to a cinder."

"Not if I can help it."

"You can't." Buffy looked at Anya. "Something else Giles said. No magic or supernatural force can stop her."

"What does that mean?" Angel asked.

"I don't know. He said 'the Slayer can't stop her.' Then he said a bunch of other stuff... he wasn't too... clear. I should hurry and get back to him. He's... alone."

"What do you… Is he ok?" Buffy asked picking up on Anya's meaning.

"I… I don't think he has a lot of time left." Anya looked Buffy in the eye. "I'm sorry." Then she vanished again.

Buffy's eyes welled with tears before she wiped them away and looked up at the hole. "Xander? Where's that rope?"

"Buffy." Angel said.

"Hello?" they heard a familiar voice say.

"Liam?" Delia hollered up. Liam appeared at the top of the hole and looked down into it.

"Delia!" Liam said.

"Liam! Are you ok?" Delia asked happy to see him.

"Much better shape than what Giles is in."

"Yeah, we know. Anya just told us."

"How did she….Never mind. Where's mom and dad?"

"Right here." Buffy came into Liam's view.

"Are you ok?"

"We need to get out of here." Buffy told him.

"No shit." Liam looked around. "Where's Xander?"

"He's supposed to be getting a rope for us."

"Good luck with that." Liam heard crying coming from down below. "Who's crying like a baby?"

"That would be your baby brother." Buffy told him.

"Connor's down there!? Where the hell is Dawn?"

"Down here too." Dawn said coming into view.

"Always that one to try and find trouble. Just like your son." Liam whispered to himself. "I'll see if I can't use magic to lift you guys up." Liam got up and disassembled his scythe, putting the pieces back into his belt.

"Hurry." Buffy yelled up.

"Buffy. You heard what Anya said. What Giles said."

"I heard. And I don't care. I have to try. I'm not just gonna sit here while Willow incinerates what I'm chosen to protect. I have to stop her..."

_"Always a slayer right to the last."_ Willow's voice came from everywhere and nowhere.

"Willow?" Buffy and Angel asked in unison.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who heard that." Liam said.

_"And it is the last, you know. For all your fighting…thinking you're saving the world."_

"Buffy." Dawn started to say something, but Buffy threw up a hand to stop her.

_"And, in the end, I'm the only one that can save it."_ Willow continued.

"By killing us?" Buffy asked.

_"It's the only way to stop the pain. The only way to save Liam's future."_

"Sure, by destroying my home and my childhood." Liam said sarcastically.

"_I…I can't take it anymore. But I know you all. The Summers Family Heroes. Buffy, Angel, Liam, Delia. You're all warriors. You won't go without a fight and I really don't have time for one. But you guys should go out fighting."_

"Willow, what do you…?" Angel asked.

"Grab your ass. We got a fight on our hands." Delia said unsheathing her sword. Angel and Buffy were going to say something, but the ground around them started to rumble. Suddenly the walls themselves started to turn into monsters, earth-creatures made up of dirt and rock and vines, which detached themselves from the walls and moved towards the family.

Earth monster popper up from the ground near Liam and stood up facing him. "Ugh…really?" Liam said in annoyance.

Buffy and Delia looked at each other and then they attacked. The demons outnumbered them all, but Buffy wasn't about to let that stop her. Buffy landed a solid kick to one of the demons before she flipped back and landed next to the two swords. She picked them up and turned to face off with more of the demons.

Delia stabbed a demon and pulled her sword upward, slicing the demon in half. She whirled around and sliced another one in half. A demon came up behind her and tride to smash her with its oversized hand. Delia raised her sword and held it by the hit and the blade to block the attack. The demons hand was immediately cut off went it made contact with the blade. Delia sliced off its feet and stabbed it in the head.

One monster headed towards Dawn. "Buffy!" Dawn screamed. Buffy looked over her shoulder as she beheaded two of the demons. The demon cornering Dawn was nearly on her when Buffy came and landed a roundhouse kick on the things head. Then another monster burst from the wall and knocked Angel and Connor back at Buffy and Dawn's feet. Angel stood and held Connor closer as he was trying to protect his infant child.

"I can't take them. They just keep coming." She said to him. A demon headed towards them. Buffy wasn't ready, but she didn't need to be. Liam came falling down from the top of the hole, his scythe raise above his head, battle crying his way down. He sliced the demon in half from top to bottom. Without even looking first, he swung his weapon and let go of it. It whistled through the air as is spun like a Frisbee, slicing a demon heading for Delia. Liam raised his hand the scythe was summoned back to him. A demon attacked and Liam twirled his scythe and swung it upwards. The force cut the demon in half and sent a dirt skyward.

"I can help. But we may need another pair of hands." Liam said.

Buffy knew what he meant. She looked at Dawn. "Dawn, will you help us?" Buffy handed her sister a sword.

"I got your guys' backs." Dawn answered. Angel smiled and Buffy nodded. They fought again, driving the demons back. Dawn set her jaw and jumped into the fray. Suddenly the place started to rock. They all staggered back from the rumbling. They all knew what was happening.

"Willow." Buffy and Angel murmured.

"Come on soldier." Liam murmured.

Dawn got backed into a corner and she screamed for help.

"Dawn, I'm coming!" Buffy called. She got rid of the three demons she was fighting and turned in time to see Dawn roll away from the demon and grab her sword only to pop back up, stab the demon in the chest, then behead him. Everyone, especially Buffy, stared at her incredulously.

"What? You think I never watched you guys?" Dawn asked. Buffy was speechless. All she could do was stare at her little sister.

"Now that's the Aunt Dawn I remember." Liam cheered. Then more demons came out of the wall. Buffy, Liam, Delia, and Dawn all formed a back-to-back circle around Angel who was protecting Connor. This was the Summers family making a stand. Buffy felt proud for every one of them. Angel felt happy that he had a family and happiness. Dawn felt excited that she was actually in the fight fighting. Liam felt more complete with in himself then he did when he brought his family together. Delia felt joy for being a part of the famous Summers family and being a typical Summers herself. This was the Summers family. Unknown to them, one last member was looking down unto them, smiling at her family fighting side by side.

…

At Kingman's Bluff, a large satanic temple had risen from the ground. Willow was by the base. Green magic was flowing from her toward the statue. The statue glows bright yellow-white. Suddenly the stream of magic was interrupted and the glowing subsided, as Xander appeared in front of the statue. Willow looks surprised.

"Hey, black-eyed girl. Whatcha doin'?" Xander said.

"Get out of here." Willow told him.

"Ah, no. You're not the only one with powers, you know. You may be a hopped-up uber-witch, but ... this carpenter can dry-wall you into the next century." Xander tried using some lame trash-talk. He knew it wouldn't do anything. But it was just who he was.

"I'm not joking, Xander. Get out of my way. Now." Willow sent a bolt of magic at Xander. It lifted him off his feet and threw him to the ground at the base of the statue.

…

At the magic shop Giles' eyes pop open. "There..." he whispered.

"What?" Anya asked.

"It's not over." Giles gave a small smile, moved his hand to touch Anya's hand by his head.

…

Back on Kingman's Bluff, lightning continued to flash around the statue. The green magic began flowing from Willow again, toward the statue. The Earth rumbled again and dust swirled around Willow. Xander sat up at the base of the temple, holding his ribs. He staggered to his feet and blocked the flow of magic again. The magic stopped flowing. Willow glared at him.

"You can't stop this." Willow told him.

"Yeah, I get that. It's just. Where else am I going to go? You've been my best friend my whole life. World gonna end…where else would I want to be?"

"Is this the master plan? You're going to stop me by telling me you love me?" Willow said scornfully.

"Well, I was going to walk you off a cliff and hand you an anvil, but it seemed kinda cartoony." Xander said.

"Still making jokes." Willow said icily.

"I'm not joking. I know you're in pain. I can't imagine the pain you're in. I know you're about to do something apocalyptically evil and stupid and hey, still want to hang. You're Willow."

"Don't call me that." Willow said angrily.

"First day of kindergarten you cried 'cause you broke the yellow crayon and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far, ending the world, not a terrific notion but the thing is, yeah, I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love…scary veiny Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. You wanna kill the world you start with me. I've earned that."

"You think I won't?"

"It doesn't matter. I'll still love you."

"Shut UP!" Willow made a scratching motion and scratches appeared on Xander's cheek.

Xander stood straight again. "I love you." Willow made more slashing motions and Xander's shirt tore. He doubled over, but stood back up. "I love."

"SHUT UP!" Willow blasted him with magic again, but Xander didn't go down despite the fact that he was thrown back a little.

"I love you Willow." Xander said again.

…

Back in the cave, the family was still fighting the demons and winning. The whole time, Buffy sensed what was going on at Kingman's Bluff, as did Liam. They both prayed silently for Xander. She decided to help him. "We love you Willow." Buffy said silently. Willow seemed to hear it.

…

Willow started to cry. "Stop!" She blasted Xander again, but the power was leaving her.

"I love you."

…

"We love you." Buffy said.

"All of us." Liam said and sliced a demon. "Me. Mom. Dad. Xander. Everyone." He sliced another Demon. "Especially Danni."

…

"Danni?" Willow asked through the fray.

…

"Your daughter." Liam said. He stopped fighting a knelt on the ground in a seiza position.

"Liam, what the fuck are you doing?" Delia asked him as she kicked a demon away from Liam and started to defend her husband.

"Willow, I hid my memories from you, but now I beseech thee. Enter my mind. See my memories. See your daughter and the possible future for her. I grant you access to my mind. See what joy life can bring."

…

Willow wondered and through her magic, entered into Liam's mind and memories. What she saw shocked her. She saw Liam fighting Holtz' crew to save Delia. She saw him become his demon self and kill Sahjhan. She saw him jump into the portal, fighting Glory in her apartment, killing a group of demons that kidnapped Dawn and Joyce, meeting Buffy for the first time when he arrived in the past. Then she the world that she feared to see. She saw the reddening skies of LA as Liam and his team drove away from the city. She focused on her daughter who was in the backseat. Then she saw Liam killing his sister and her daughter comforting him while he was in shock. She saw her daughter and Liam fighting alongside each other on a street in London against what looked to be mutated demons. She saw her daughter teaching Liam and Kathy magic and spells. She saw he daughter kissing a boy with raven colored hair who looked like Xander. She her daughter laughing and smiling in many memories that she glimpsed at. Suddenly she was brought into a memory she never expected. She felt her whole body move as the scene she was in changed

_It was a beautiful early fall day. The sun was shining and people were laughing and enjoying their day. Dark Willow stood before a fountain and looked all around. Then her gaze landed on a red headed woman in a sundress looking towards an elementary school. School was just getting out. Four young children came running out of the school heading towards the red headed woman. They were two boys and two girls. One boy had dark brown hair and green eyes. The other boy had raven colored hair and bright blue eyes. One girl had brown hair like the first boy tied into two ponytails, with matching green eyes. The last girl had red hair like the woman and seemed to be the most excited of the group running towards the woman._

"_Hi Aunt Willow." The brown haired boy greeted the woman._

"_Hi Willow." The brown haired girl said._

"_Hey Liam. Hey there Kathy." Future Willow greeted them with a smile._

"_Mommy, mommy, mommy." The red head girl said as she jumped into Future Willows outstretched arms. Future Willow spun her around as she hugged her._

"_Hello my little miracle." Future Willow greeted her. She set her daughter down and crouched down to eye level. "So, did you have a good day at school?"_

"_Mommy, Collin was telling me that by doing wrong magic, I'll turn bad" The girl complained to Willow._

"_Collin, it's not nice to tease." Willow told the raven haired boy, then looked back at her daughter. "Daniella Tara Rosenberg, what did I tell? Light and Dark magic doesn't exist. There is only magic. And it doesn't matter what you learn, it's how you use it. If you wish to do good, then all you are using is good magic. Understand?" The little girl nodded happily and hugged Future Willow. Dark Willow looked at the scene before her with shock and wonder. She was actually seeing her future and seeing her daughter. She didn't even think of this future when she was planning on destroying the world. _

_Future Willow looked towards Dark Willow and smiled at her. She said a few words to the children and then got up and started walking towards Dark Willow, much to her surprise. She stopped a few feet from her and simply smiled at her._

"_Been waiting for you." Future Willow said._

"_How could you…." Dark Willow said._

"_Because I remember standing where you are standing, thirteen years ago, talking to me."_

"_How?"_

"_Don't get into it. It all has to do with Liam and the magicks and the space time continuum." Dark Willow stared at her future self. Even though Future Willow was facing her evil younger self, she still remained happy and continued to smile at her. "From your wardrobe, I'd say this is around the time you're about to destroy the world. And it all began with Tara."_

"_She died in my arms." Dark Willow said._

"_Yeah. I remember. And to this day, I miss her. But just because you lost a love, doesn't mean love is gone forever." Future Willow looked back at the four children that were playing by a tree. "It just morphs into a new love." She looked back at Dark Willow. _

"_But this world is in so much pain. It's unbearable."_

"_Yes it is. But this world isn't just filled with pain and sorrow. It's also filled with joy and happiness. The only reason people suffer is because people let suffering come to them. If you want happiness, if you want all of this, you have to make it happen. And not in the using magic next second it appears way."_

"_How?" Dark Willow said with tears forming in her eyes. _

"_It all starts with people that love you. They'll help you through the dark times, and then you just make your own light. Like I did." Future Willow looked back at her daughter._

"_She's beautiful." Willow said. She was beginning to turn back to normal. Her hair was turning red again and her eyes weren't black anymore._

"_She's everything I made her to be." Future Willow said. "Unfortunately magic was involved with her but I don't care."_

"_Magic?"_

_Future Willow looked back at her younger self. "Yeah. I told everyone that I got a donation but instead, that little girl…I made her out of magic."_

"_Out of magic? Like Dawn?"_

"_Well, I did carry her for nine months and gave birth to her. That way she could be fully human. She's just a mini version of me. Except prettier when she's older." Both Willow's laughed. Then Willow asked a serious question._

"_Why are you telling me this?"_

"_Because you need to know. Destroying this world isn't going to change anything. There is always hope in this world. And there is hope for you. Right now you're sad for Tara. I still am. You're also afraid. Mostly of yourself. You know what you did and you're afraid. As well you should. But you need to realize, like I did, that there is no dark and light Willow. There is only Willow. And what she intends to do with the power she has. Right now you intend to destroy the world. What I did, I stopped myself and fell into the comfort of my friends. Then I controlled the power inside me and became a real force of good for this world. And I know you'll do the same."_

_Willow contemplated everything she apparently just told herself. There was no light and dark magic. Just magic and what you choose to do with it. As well as what you choose to do with your life. Bad things happen, because you let them happen, or they just happen. But it's what you choose to do after these actions, is how your life becomes. Willow was understanding everything now. _

"_How do you know all this?" Willow asked her future self._

"_Well one, I went to another dimension to bring magic back when this world lost it. And two, I learned it from myself when I was talking to me thirteen years ago." Future Willow replied. The statement caught Willow off guard._

"_Wait. Magic was lost from the world?"_

"_Don't worry about it. Liam took care of it. No magic was lost. And the future is looking brighter thanks to everything he's doing then." Willow smiled at the news. "But you have to go back and control your magic. Stop yourself and control it. You're going to need it the rising storm." Willow's smile faded._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Something's coming. And it's bigger than the one we faced before he came. You're going to need everything you have and then some to come out of it."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_You'll know soon enough in time. But go back. Learn to control your magic, be a force for good, be with your family…" Future Willow smiled at her younger self. "And live well." Future Willow placed a hand on Willow's shoulder_

…

Xander walked up to Willow. She was back to normal. Her hair was rad again and her eyes weren't black anymore. She stood still as the memories of what she just saw raced through her mind. She was going to destroy the world before she even got a chance to see her own daughter. Willow was sobbing and shaking her head. She sank to her knees. Xander caught her and hugged her as she sobbed.

"I love you." Xander said.

…

Back in the cave, Buffy and her family were fighting the earth demons. Liam was still kneeling on the ground. Suddenly the demons stopped moving and crumbled to dirt and fell to the floor. Everyone but Liam and Buffy looked stunned.

"What happened?" Angel, Dawn, and Delia asked.

…

At the magic shop, Anya sat on the stairs with her head in her hands. Giles was lying on the floor apparently motionless. Suddenly he stirred, opened his eyes, rolled over and lifted himself onto his elbows. Anya looked up in surprise.

"Giles!" She got up and rushed back over to him, kneeling beside him. "You're not dead!"

"No." Giles said. Anya gave a little cry of happiness and hugged Giles hard. He winced at the pain. "However, I am still in some pain."

Anya let go of him. "Oh... Well ... why aren't you dead? Why aren't I dead?"

"Uh, the threat's gone. Willow's been stopped." Giles tried to sit up and Anya helped him.

"Oh. You mean she's…"

"No, she's alive. It, uh ... the magic she took from me, it-it did what I hoped it would do."

"Oh. You dosed her."

"Yes."

"You knew she'd going to take your powers all along."

"The gift I was given by the coven was the true essence of magic. Willow's magic came from a ... place of rage and power."

"And vengeance. Don't forget vengeance."

"Oh. How could I? In any case, the magic she took from me tapped into ... the spark of humanity she had left. Helped her to feel again. Gave Xander the opportunity to ... reach her."

"Xander?" Anya looked surprised.

"Yes. It was he who got to her in time. He saved us all." Giles smiled. Anya gazed at Giles, absorbing this, slowly starting to smile.

…

"I... I think it's over, Buffy. The world's still here." Dawn said.

"Oh thank god, the powers, and Xander." Buffy said happily.

"Xander?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, he was the one that got to Willow in time. He saved us."

"Way to go Xander." Angel said with a smile. In all the time he'd known Xander, he never once thought of him ever saving the world on his own. He suddenly had much more respect for him.

"Hey does anybody else notice that he's not crying?" Delia pointed out to everyone. Angel and Buffy looked at her, then looked at Connor waddled up in Angel's arms. He wasn't crying anymore. In fact he was giggling and smiling at them.

"He must know what's going on." Angel theorized.

"And he's happy about that." Buffy said looking caringly at her son.

"Liam?" Delia asked looking around. Liam was still kneeling on the floor with his arms hung loosely at the sides. She heard a sniffle escape from him. "Liam are you crying?" Everyone turned to where Liam was still kneeling and apparently crying. He leaned forward and dropped down, rolling onto his back. He wasn't crying, he was laughing. Everyone stared at Liam, confused as to why he was laughing. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because…" Liam lifted himself up and looked at his family. "I never had as much fun with you guys as I did right now." He got up to his feet. "This…what we just did…what you guys just did…in all my time here in the past, this is closest anyone's every come to being the family I grew up with. Xander saving the world using his wit, mom and dad fighting alongside each other, Dawn kicking ass, me and my wife together. This is…truly…my family." Buffy had tears growing in her eyes as she heard her son's words and they touched her. He was happy. As was she. She walked over to him and they both hugged each other happily. Everyone looked at the two and how happy they were. They two were happy and showed it through their smiles. Liam and Buffy looked at all of them and motioned for them to come and join in on the family hug.

…

Later that day, everyone but Willow was in the Summers living room sitting around. Willow had gone up to her room since she got back and hasn't been hard from or seen since. She was still feeling really guilty about what she did and was still feeling grief over Tara's death. Some wondered if being the room where she died was healthy for Willow. But Willow just went up straight to her room without a word to anyone and the subject was dropped. Now they were all talking about a new subject entirely.

"I called the coven and thy have agreed to take Willow in." Giles told everyone sitting in the Summers living room. He was sitting in one of the armchairs. Buffy, Angel, and Dawn were sitting on the couch. Xander sat in the other armchair. Delia and Liam stood behind Giles. Anya was sitting in a chair she brought over from the table. "They will teach her to control her powers and her emotions."

"Alright future boy." Xander directed towards Liam. "Is this what Willow did after nearly destroying the world?"

Liam sighed. He didn't like being called future boy and would have normally punched Xander. But under the present circumstances, he didn't really care. "She does go to England and learns to control her magic. And she comes back better than she was and becomes a real force of good." Liam said.

Buffy nodded. "Then we are in agreement then. Willow will go with Giles back to England to control her magic."

"And Liam and I'll go too." Delia said.

"What? Why?" Dawn asked.

"Willow just went through something traumatic. More traumatic then normal people can handle. Having someone who's gone through similar but also worse things in his life might help her out along the way." Liam explained.

"Also we have business in England that has to be addressed." Delia added.

"What business?" Angel asked.

"Dad, after everything we just did in the past month, do you really wanna add something else to that?" Liam asked. Angel was silent. After everything, all he really wanted to do was just rest and take care of his family.

"But why you two?" Buffy asked.

"Who else? Not to mention what we have to do is nothing more than data gathering and analysis."

"Research basically." Dawn said.

"Yup." Delia said.

"Ok then. If that's what you really want to do." Buffy said. Liam nodded to her. Buffy looked to the stairs. "I just hope that Willow will be ok."

"She will be." Liam said. "She's strong. She'll get through this. She has to."

…

In Willow's room, the drapes were shut, leaving only little light appearing in the room. The room was a little dark. A blood stain was still present from where Tara was shot and died. Willow sat in the corner with her head leaning on the wall, staring at the bloodstain. She was in a lot of pain. With grief from Tara's death, and guilt from her nearly destroying the world. She wondered to herself, what might have been.

There was a knock on the door and it opened slowly. Liam appeared in the doorway. He slowly walked into the room and looked at Willow. H too felt guilt for what happened. He had been too focused on saving his brother that he didn't give much thought to Willow and Tara. He always had a rule about saving family. Save all or save none. There was no in between. He saved his brother, but couldn't save his aunt. He too wondered what might have been if he had killed Warren from the start. But he couldn't think of those things right now. Now he had to look to the future.

"Willow." He said. Willow gave no sign of acknowledging him. Liam expected this. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have done something different than what I did. And for that I'm sorry." Willow still didn't say anything. Liam was reminded of how he was like after killing his sister. He was exactly how Willow is now. He knew that it would take a lot of time for her. But he also knew that she would need someone to talk to. And when she did, he would be there for her.

He turned go but Willow stopped him. "Tell me about her." Willow said to him. Liam turned to face Willow who was looking at him. "Tell me about…Danni." Liam sighed and walked over to Willow. He sat down next to her.

"How much do you wanna know?" he asked.

"Enough." Willow answered. Liam nodded and took Willows hand in his own.

…

**Four Months Later**

On the outskirts of Sunnydale, the air was cool as the desert was cloaked in the darkness of the night sky. The only light came from the full moon that shined upon the earth. There wasn't a rustle nor a sound made anywhere near the rock formation where Liam appeared the first time he came to the past and where he saved his aunt and grandmother.

Suddenly, the earth trembled a little. Tiny pebbles and rocks moved as the earth there shook. A light beam appeared out of the ground and expanded until it made a complete circle like formation in the sand. Sand rose and began to swirl all around it. The swirl moved faster and faster, making a mini tornado of sand. Inside the circle, sand started to came together, forming feet and hands and bodies. Dark clothing started to appear on the bodies that were being made. After several seconds, the swirl of sand disappeared. Right where the circle of sand once was, were three hooded figures, clad in dark clothing but with white hoods. One wore a dark cloak with a hood and had intricate symbols on it. Another hooded figure had on a black leather suit and a quiver on his back filled with arrows and holding a bow in his hand. The last figure had on a leather coat and a hood with two short curved tactical swords sheathed at his sides. The hoods cascaded a shadow over their eyes as they all looked up at their surroundings. Then they all keeled over and heaved what was in their stomachs, which was nothing so it felt worse.

**And there you have it folks. The end of this story and the start of a new one. I will post the sequel details soon. Like I said, next story will take a while for me to write each chapter because it's more my imagination than it is canon. However there will be some canon in there. Comment and review and message and ideas you guys have that you would like to see I nth next book. It's filled with a lot of new cool things.**


	31. Sequel Alert

Chapter 31: Sequel

**Hey guys. This is another sequel alert that I've concocted. I will be writing and posting my new book **_**The Future is Black **_**here in the next several days. As I've said before, I will be posting far in between chapters because it will be mostly my imagination, and I have school and work. But I will work on the book for all my viewers. The sequel will be the last in this trilogy that I am making. I'm thinking about doing a prequel with everyone in the future, but I don't know. As for the next book, it will be more about Liam trying to stop Wolfram and Hart once and for all. There will be canon, but half of the book will be Liam's behind the scenes story. There will be new allies, twists, angst, and a lot of other stuff that I have in my head. **

**Summary:**

_**The time has come for Liam to finish what he came back to do. The apocalypse has come and Buffy and Angel can't do what they did before. This is a new ending to the series. They will face unexpected enemies and dark forces from the past, present, and future. Throw in an archer, a swordsman, a goddess, a slayer, a demon, and an angel into the mix, you have one hell of a recipe for an apocalypse. And in their case…it's a good apocalypse.**_


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